Hinata's Gentle Fist
by Lythya
Summary: After the fight with Pain is over, Hinata thinks herself too weak, and she decides to train more. Neji ends up realizing some interesting things. Chapter two up, looking for Sasuke, Hinata shows her true strength. Rated for fighting scenes. Finally finish
1. Hinata's Gentle Fist

If you haven't read the latest chapters of the manga, do not read further, SPOILERS! Please tell me what you think of this.

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**The Hinata Chronicles**

The Hinata Chronicles is a series of stories about Hinata, all forming over a few chapters. They often associate with each other and encounter different problems that still have common traits. They analyze characters and their relationships with each other. Most of them also develops on a special power of Hinata's.

The Hinata Chronicles can be read separately.

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Hinata's gentle fist

It was quiet in the yard except for the soft, yet fierce, Hai's that echoed to the stairs of the Hyuuga Clan's Main Branch's residence. The sun was starting to set, leaving long, crooked shadows on its way.

The teenage girl standing in the middle of the yard didn't notice that. She was too concentrated about her training.

Usually she had to train inside, in one of the Dojos. But it had been good weather – it still was, the air was hot and the wind refreshing – so Hyuuga Hinata had left the Dojo. She was lucky that she could get to train there, but Neji was hurt in a mission, so the training ground was free for her to take. His wound did not part him from his training – being a former student of Gai Sensei and being who he was, Neji would never allow such a thing. But he could not train as intense and as much as usual. That didn't mean Hiashi took the remaining time as prudent to use on Hinata. Instead, he used it on paperwork.

Hinata was used to her way of living, and she was over complaining about it, starting to change it. She had tried many times – during the academy, when becoming a genin, during the chunin exams, anytime she got the chance. Latest had been her try to help Naruto-kun, when she told him she loved him. It hadn't gone well, and it was only days since she came out of Konoha's hospital and Sakura's careful healing sessions.

She hadn't seen or spoken to Naruto-kun since then, and she was sad, though not surprised, that he did not have the same feelings as her. Still, a part of her had always hoped. Hoped for more. But how could he feel more? She had never been worth noticing.

Many times had she wanted to change herself, but maybe never as much as now. She wanted to be worth noticing.

She was not enough. She was not strong enough to come even near equalizing Sakura, not strong enough to stand even thirty seconds against Pain.

She remembered when she'd laid in the hospital, often talking with Sakura. It was as if the healer had gotten a new interest in her, and she found that Sakura was very kind. Not that she had ever thought that she wasn't. Sakura was truly worthy of being called Naruto-kun's comrade. She'd just always been intimidated by the wild Sakura, but now she saw that she also had a gentle side.

She hadn't spoken to Naruto-kun since her confession, and she didn't know how to ever face him again. But she knew that the next time he needed her help, she would be there.

She would be strong. And not only for Naruto. For her father and her sister, for Neji, for her clan, for the future Hyuuga, for Konoha. For everyone that mattered to her. For Kiba and for Shino.

She was panting and felt her muscles ache, but she didn't stop, not even to breathe. She remembered the breathing exercises Kurenai-sensei had once taught her. With proper breathing, you could endure anything.

She jumped from one stance to another, imagining she was standing in front of another Shinobi. The little yard had she turned into a playground, placing all kinds of dummies and gymnastic training stuff around there. She jumped from one thing to another, placing fatal hits on the dummies while looking out for her imaginative foe. She had practiced for so many hours, she was starting to believe she was not just imagining. She was thinking she could almost _see_ the chakra system in her opponent.

"Ha!" she screamed, not even thinking about it, when she destroyed another dummy. Her chakra control was growing by the minute. She had watched Sakura's ridiculous strength many times, and she had been inspired to become stronger herself. She had worked on her chakra control for many reasons, but mainly because it would make her gentle fist stronger, and because she knew that was how Sakura got that strength.

She had become better, and she had become stronger. She could use less chakra for more now, and she was a bit proud of herself, though she would never admit it to herself.

She watched the ground under her hand, smiling a little. It had gone right through the dummy, and there were crunches in the ground.

She grimaced.

For a short moment, she remembered the power she'd put into the hit that had been meant for Pain. She hadn't even touched him, but the ground had looked as if a minor earthquake passed by afterwards.

_At least I got him away from Naruto-kun_.

Thinking of the one she loved only gave her new powers, and she continued her endless fight with herself.

"Hinata-neesan," a voice called out, not catching her attention enough to stop her doings. She simply continued fighting with the dummies and avoiding the invisible attacks. Since she was standing with her back to the voice, she used her Byakugan to look. It was Hanabi.

"Yes, what is it, Hanabi-san?" she asked, panting. She made a flick backwards, into the air, before she landed elegantly before her little sister, kicking a dummy down, raising one she'd already knocked down with her right hand, and then throwing herself over a log with her hands.

She could see Hanabi watching her silently, and she saw her activate her Byakugan.

"What is it?" she asked again. She made a fatal hit for her opponents heart, watching her chakra form in the air in the imaginative circulatory systems. She stopped for a moment to observe. She'd formed the chakra.

She gasped in air and forced herself to go on. If she stood still for too long, her feet would tell her to stop entirely, and that was too early.

Hanabi watched her a few moments more. Then she de-activated her Byakugan, turned and walked away.

-

Hyuuga Neji was wandering through the Hyuuga Main Branch estate. He had been living there for many years now, as one of the only Side Branch members. He knew he should feel honored, but he had always felt utterly bitter about the subject. After he met Uzumaki Naruto, he had been able to feel thankful for Hyuuga Hiashi's deed. Hiashi taught him many things, and Neji was able to grow as both a person and as a shinobi under his wings.

Since his fight with Uzumaki Naruto, he had realized things he did not see before. Like the lack of attention Hyuuga Hiashi gave to his first born, Hinata, the heiress, and the growing pressure on the young girl.

Neji knew that Hiashi wasn't careless when it came to Hinata – he just had another way of parenting than most people. After he'd seen Hinata's lacking powers, he'd decided to try other methods to awaken her strength, meaning her getting by on her own. If not, the heiress could be changed.

Neji sighed. Sometimes he was just a little bit grateful that he was born in the Side Branch. There was just a little bit more politics in the Main Branch. He still hated the seal on his forehead more than anything. More than death. Death was the only salvation from that seal.

He sighed and looked down into his arms where he held so many scrolls he had a bit of a problem holding on to them. He'd been in the Hyuuga's personal library, picking up a few things that he could read while still having to wear that ridiculous bandage around his shoulder. At least it wasn't anything really serious – nothing like when Gaara had turned Lee into a wreck. He wondered if Lee could still feel those wounds, or if they were totally gone.

In that same moment, Hanabi came walking around the corner. He raised his eyebrows at her expression. So she was still wearing that look.

The day before, he'd seen her looking just the slightest bit worried, very confused, and there was a little hint of smugness in her Hyuuga-eyes.

"Hanabi-san," he greeted as they walked past each other. She didn't respond, and he continued till she called his name: "Neji."

"Huh?" he breathed, turning around to look at her back. She didn't bother to look at him. She probably had her Byakugan activated or didn't care. Having such skill with the Byakugan eyes as he had, he could almost see such things without it activated.

"Neji … Is it … Possible …" she mumbled, not stuttering, more trying to find her way in the words.

"What is it, Hanabi-san?"

"Never mind," she answered.

She walked away, leaving Neji a bit curious. He quickly shot it out of his mind, though, not thinking further about it.

-

_Is it possible to control the chakra circulatory system?_

Those were the thoughts of Hyuuga Hanabi as she sat in her room. She had often been told the powers of the Byakugan; she could stop the chakra's flow by hitting the body's Tenketsu, but it took very much skill; she could also strengthen the flow, and open one or more of the eight gates, like Neji's comrade, Lee, could do for himself, because he was trained in it.

All this required perfect chakra-control and a good Byakugan.

Her father didn't often speak of Hinata-neesan in her presence, but when he did, he mostly spoke of her lacking skills. She had always wished to show her father that she had the power to do what her sister had not been able to do.

But now she had seen something that told her, that her father had completely mistaken her sister – and so had everyone else. Not only the Hyuuga clan, everyone. Oh, maybe not Kiba and Shino, Hinata-neesan's comrades, but they were supposed to trust in her. But though they may have believed in her, they couldn't possibly have known of her true strength.

_Hinata-neesan_ …

She squeezed her eyes, rubbing her temples. What was it that she had seen? Hinata-neesan's chakra had … Done something. It was as if it had been creating its own chakra circulatory system from nothing. As if a person was standing there. Hanabi had never seen or heard of anything like that.

_What else have you hidden from us?_

-

It didn't take long before Neji was able to train as before again. Hinata had to move inside again, and she started to think about asking Kiba and Shino to go training with her in the woods. They'd always been willing to help her. She smiled. She loved them both. They were both so special and strong.

Even though Kiba couldn't read minds, she knew what he'd say if he read hers, so she quickly added Akamaru to her calculations.

She sometimes took a break to go watch Neji and her father train. Sometimes she'd make tea for them to enjoy. She wanted to learn as much as she could, and even though Hiashi didn't train her, listening to what he told Neji gave her a little.

But the warmth in Konoha grew by the minute, and she was exhausted faster than before. She found herself gasping on the floor of the dojo within minutes. She wondered why she was so weak, and why her cousin so strong.

The Dojo had a way of gathering the warmth like black steel, and sometimes she would go to the yard before Neji and her father. It was still hot, but here there came a wind when she moved.

She danced lightly around the yard, throwing her hands in all directions, looking with her Byakugan. She forced herself to see details, forced herself to see long; see outside the village.

Then she saw Neji, who had arrived and now stood at the one end of the yard.

She stopped, gasping for air, and turned to face him. A deep blush went over her face.

"Ano, Neji-kun," she gasped and quickly bowed. "I forgot the time. Please excuse me."

Neji watched her silently, walking over the yard to her. She flinched and turned to hurry away.

"Wait, Hinata-sama," Neji called, and she froze. "What were you just doing?"

She turned slowly to face him. "I … I was training. It's so hot in the dojo, I figured I could go here before you arrived."

Neji stared at her. She was such a weird girl. He had never understood her, and he was pretty sure not even her teammates understood her. Maybe nobody did.

A quick sadness rolled over him as he thought that.

"Hinata-sama … I was thinking … Your father will be delayed today, and I came to train a bit by myself. Would you mind sparring with me till he arrives?" he asked her.

She looked at him with wondering eyes, but she nodded. The blush was still faintly on her cheeks.

They took their stances in each their end of the yard. Then, as if agreeing at the moment, they ran for each other on the same time, both yelling: "Byakugan!"

Hinata still remembered the humiliation of her first chunin exam clearly. She wanted badly to be better, but she knew she didn't stand a chance against Neji.

But she was glad to find that her Byakugan was better. She could see them now – she could see his Tenketsues. Not all of them, but the most fatal of them.

Then his flat hand, filled with chakra, came for her, and she deliberately answered it with her own, causing a minor explosion of chakra.

The next hand was coming, and while she blocked it, she tried to get her left hand through his defenses, but he quickly moved his own hand just as quickly.

Their hands moved in a dance, and she was happy that she could dodge his attacks, happy that she was faster. But she was also mad that she couldn't get a hit on him.

"Hai! Hei! Hai!" she yelled for each throw she made for him. It seemed that time evaporated in the yard while their fight went on. They barely moved out of their stances, only using their hands, but they both knew that taking in one hit could be fatal.

Then she decided to do something totally out of place for a Hyuuga. She pushed herself back from him, falling to the ground, where she lifted herself up on her hands to kick backwards toward him. It caught him off guard, and she punched him in the guts.

She jumped to her feet, taking her stance again. He blinked a few times, and she used his confusion to attack again, this time with her gentle fist.

He caught her hand with his own and swung her around. She gasped and tried to hit his arm with her other hand, but he responded likewise to this one.

Their hands were glowing with chakra, and they were staring into each other's Byakugans, searching their Tenketsu and chakra circulatory systems.

Her kick hadn't done much, since it hadn't had any chakra, but she had hit him. She had showed him that she was not just a weakling.

She loosened her little finger from his grasp and poked it as hard as she could into his hand. If it had just been a simple poke, he probably wouldn't have given it any attention, but it was a chakra poke, and he quickly withdrew.

He clenched his teeth, looking at her with searching eyes. She smiled back at him.

Then he came for her, and she could see that he was coming for her with all his strength. She jumped out of the way, blocking with her own hands, trying hard to protect herself from the many punches that he threw. Not a simple flicker crossed his face. She danced away from him, and though she was avoiding – for now – she knew that he had the upper hand. He was moving her backwards. In the battlefield, this could not be allowed.

She decided to do something risky. Instead of blocking him, she moved her hand for his shoulder, focusing on the Tenketsu there.

She felt her chakra whirl around, being disturbed by the new chakra that was pushed into her. Her whole system was changed.

She jumped back immediately, watching him quietly. She'd almost hit his shoulder Tenketsu. Almost …

She looked at the place he'd hit her; a Tenketsu in her right arm. Trying to move her arm, she found that it was not as serious as she had feared.

She looked up, only to found him attacking her again.

Knowing she didn't have the time to hit, she quickly calculated where he'd punch and forged her chakra there.

She gasped when he hit her. Her gathering of chakra had helped, but not enough. She could feel her chakra system falter.

She straightened up, holding he hands out toward him. He wouldn't get another chance to hit her.

"Hai!" she yelled as she hit for his arms. He blocked, of course, but instead of removing her hands, she locked her own with his and punched herself into him. He gasped, and she swiftly removed her hand, placing it to his rib.

He stumbled back, his hand at his side, when they parted. They were both panting furiously.

After a few seconds, he lifted his hands once more, and they ran for each other.

None of them gave as much as a whisper as they fought; only the sound of chakra was to hear.

She felt herself freeze when his index and middle finger forced itself into her stomach, and she tasted blood in her mouth. He'd caught a very important Tenketsu.

He smiled, tasting victory.

He formed his other hand and send it for her, but she forced herself to grab it with her left hand, and then she pointed her hand towards his heart.

He was gone before she got that far, but she hit his side once again.

She fell to the ground, gasping for air. She wasn't sure it would be safe using her chakra again, but she'd have to.

His brows increased as he looked at her, and she frowned. If she couldn't fight Neji properly she'd have no chance at helping Naruto-kun with Sasuke.

"Attack!" she ordered, straight again. It hurt, but she held it down.

He nodded, and their fight somehow increased. She was looking for an opening while at the same time trying to protect herself. She was mad because there were two openings that she could have used, if she'd not been so busy with protecting herself.

She didn't let him get any hit in, but it was hard when she was already weakened.

They were so engaged in their fighting, they did not notice that Hyuuga Hiashi had arrived. The head of the clan watched with interest as his eldest daughter and his brothers prodigy of a son fought each other. He'd never imagined Hinata could get so fatal wounds on Neji, or withhold him for so long.

The fight prolonged, and there went several minutes between each hit, until, at last, Hinata lay beaten on the ground. It was what was to be expected, Hiashi thought, but what wasn't to be expected was that Neji was supporting himself on his knees, gasping for his breath, flickers of pain crossing his face. He held one of his hands to his one side, where Hinata had hit him several times. Hiashi hoped Neji wasn't hurt too much again.

"Are you finished?" he called out, and the two teens both froze shortly before turning toward him – Hinata with bigger effort. She fought to get herself up on her feet, where she swayed unsteadily.

"Y-y-yes, f-father," she stuttered. Hiashi frowned. She'd stuttered a bit when she was younger, but it had gone away as she'd grown. What had triggered it now?

"I hope you haven't waited too long, Hiashi-sama," Neji apologized, bowing.

Hiashi nodded to them both. "You are forgiven," he stated. He didn't say anymore, and after a few seconds, Hinata began dragging herself away from the yard.

"Why were you fighting with my daughter?" Hiashi asked. "Did something happen?"

"We were simply training, Hiashi-sama," Neji answered.

"She's better, is she not?"

"Definitely, Hiashi-sama."

Hiashi turned his head at the sound of his nephew's voice. Neji was staring after Hinata, looking almost … proud.

"Hmm … Well, let's get to training."

"Hai, Hiashi-sama."

-

Even though she'd trained her entire day, and even though she'd been beaten by Neji, she couldn't sleep. She stood on the terrace, looking at the moon and the stars above her. She'd been exhausted till the moment she fell on her bed. She'd felt like she needed to only close her eyes and then she'd be asleep.

But as soon as she lay with her head on that pillow, she was far awake. She'd gone out to get some fresh air, and she found herself even more awake. Sour, but awake.

"Hinata-sama."

She looked to her left, finding Neji there. She smiled weakly, not finding the strength to be polite. She wanted to sleep, but she couldn't. It was one of the worst feelings.

"Neji-kun," she answered, sighing deeply at her low voice.

He came to stand beside her, and he scrutinized her face. She blushed. Had it been anyone else, she could have hoped that the dark would cover this, but with a Hyuuga, that was impossibility, especially when it was someone as skilled as Neji.

"Why aren't you asleep?" he asked, clearly making small-talk.

"I can't sleep."

He smiled. "After that fight?" She flinched. "I can't sleep, either," he said then. "I keep thinking about how things have turned out."

"What do you mean?" she asked, looking at him with wonder deep in her eyes.

"I always thought that … That it was wrong that I was in the Side Branch and you in the Main branch." An uncomfortable silence fell upon them, and Hinata bit her lip. "But now I think that there was a reason. You were never really strong, Hinata, yet you never gave up. In your own way, you were strong. You are, still. And that strength made you even stronger. That's the strength that's going to make you a great clan head." She stared at him, not believing her own ears. He smiled at her. "I'm not really suited for that title."

She shook her head, trying to get out of the dream she was captured in. "Neji, the seal –"

"With the proper leader, what does the seal matter?" he asked, but his eyes were sad. "Listen, Hinata-san." She felt jumpy when he didn't call her sama but san. "You're going to meet many other difficulties in the future, but that strength you carry inside is going to get you through it. Your true enemy is your shyness. Put that behind you. You're strong. Your strength will save you, and that strength is also what's going to make Naruto-kun acknowledge you." He smiled at her deep blush. "Not that he hasn't already."

"Th-th-th-thank y-you Neji," she stuttered.

"And don't begin with the stuttering thing again. I know you still do it mainly in front of Naruto-kun, but you've worked so hard to get over it."

She couldn't help laughing, and she looked at him with gratitude. "Thank you, Neji-kun. You're very kind."

He smiled back. "Promise me one thing, though, Hinata-sama." He was serious now. She nodded, waiting for him to continue. "Become a good clan leader. And don't misuse the caged bird seal."

She nodded, just as serious as he was. "I promise, Neji-kun. I'll do my best."

He smiled and turned around. She watched him with wonder. How strange it was to have him being the person who understood her the best. Not even Shino and Kiba-kun understood her half as well – when it came to Naruto, at least. They always asked her why she acted like that around Naruto. Sakura said they were ignorant, and TenTen agreed. But Neji understood.

She smiled, feeling that she would be able to sleep again.

_It's impossible to hide anything from a Hyuuga_.

---

So, yea, just an idea-bunny. I've got two additional chapters to this, in my head, but I don't know if I'll write them. I really should be writing on Newborn.

Tell me what you think, please.


	2. Hinata's Strength

Omg, this is just so long, it's taken me too long to write. Ideas just kept popping up.

The next chapter will be the last.

R&R

-

"Hinata-san! Are you all right?" Lee shouted out, immediately jumping back from the tree he'd landed on to stand by her side.

She was gasping for air, resting herself against a tree trunk. She felt faint and as if she was going to fall any minute now. She'd felt like that for hours, but now it was really hitting her how much she needed to rest. But she couldn't. There was too much at stake. She was needed, and for once she could make a difference. She could make Naruto-kun see that she was not worthless.

But they'd been working for days now, only sleeping a few hours. Hinata was pretty sure she could count them on both her hands. And she especially had been working hard. Hinata, Kiba and Shino were perfect at tracking, so they were working harder, longer and more than everybody else put together.

To find Sasuke, that was needed.

Hinata was only wishing that she could work with Kiba and Shino. Not that anything was wrong with Lee and Ino – Lee was very … uplifting. But she was used to Shino's silent trust and Kiba's loud concern and cheering. And then her Byakugan was easier to use when Kiba or Shino had told her which direction to use it.

Instead, they were parted so that they could rest while there was always a good tracker out. Now she only had a faint clue from Kiba's earlier words – but they were hours old! She didn't know what way to look with her Byakugan! And after hours of endless searching, she was getting tired. Using her Byakugan that much was hard – she was sure even her cousin, Neji, would have at least a headache with this much overuse.

The thought of her cousin gave her hope and new strength. He believed in her, and he would soon come and join up with them.

_I can do this! For my clan! For Naruto-kun!_

She closed her eyes for a minute before looking at Lee with fierce eyes. He jumped a bit, and she was proud; he was used to her cousin.

"I'm fine, Lee-kun. Don't worry about me."

She focused her eyes north, which were Kiba's last clue. She saw the dust falling from the trees in the dim morning light. It was dawn. Had the night already passed? It felt like it took forever. There were not long till she could let herself fold out her covers and lay her head on the soft ground, that didn't seem soft at all usually – but that was not to be thought of now.

The trees around her normally made no distraction for her Byakugan, but now it made it a bit blurry with her lack of concentration and sleep. The thought of letting herself fall down from the tree and land on the ground to sleep for hours did not sound that appalling.

"Hinata!" Ino exclaimed, grabbing her arm. She hadn't realized she'd started to drop.

"'on't orry fo 'e," she blurred out, yawning shortly after.

Ino grunted irritated. "This is insane! She's been on this for days! They barely sleep or eat! We must talk with Naruto about making them –"

"No!" Hinata squeaked, suddenly very much awake. She straightened up. "No, don't do that." She felt a short blush color her cheeks, but she ignored that.

"Hinata-san!" Lee grinned, proud for some reason. "You carry the true spring of youth inside of you! You can make this, Hinata-san!"

She simply nodded, not agreeing at all. The only thing she cared for was that Naruto not know that she was this weak.

"Let's go!" she breathed, setting off, trying very hard to focus her eyes.

-

"I tell you, she just fell where she stood! I was terrified! It was freaking _thirty meters_, and she was falling with her head first!"

Hinata was breathing evenly, her eyes seeing strange colors of happiness – happy that they could be closed. Happy that they could see whatever her mind served them.

She'd not been sleeping long enough. How long had it been? Five hours, at the most. She couldn't even bring herself to think about the voice that seemed so much like Ino's. She let herself fall into the colors, both Byakugan and usual.

"This can't go on! Not only Hinata, Kiba and Shino! Akamaru, too! If the dog's tired, imagine how the humans are!"

_That was my team_, she thought uneasily. Had something happened to them?

It was Sakura. Sakura was a healer. Why was she there?

If she woke up in a few hours, she could know then. She didn't want – didn't need – to worry right now, right now she only needed and wanted to sleep.

"Relax, Sakura-chan!" Naruto-kun breathed in an uneasy, pleading voice. "She's okay, right? Lee –"

"Lee may not be there next time!" Sakura cut him off violently.

Couldn't they discuss this some other place?

It didn't matter.

She was already drifting off again.

-

There couldn't have gone more than an hour when consciousness hit her again. She felt even more exhausted now – she wasn't sure if she could even get herself to stand. Her whole body was sore and needed a good night's sleep. But there would be a long time before she could get that.

She didn't notice as she slowly pulled her hand to her forehead to try and calm down the headache that hammered there. She felt as if there was a mine in there.

"Shino!" somebody called out.

"We're back," she heard Choji mumble uneasily.

"What happened?" someone sounding suspiciously much like Sakura asked.

"He just dropped to his feet," TenTen answered.

"Is he hurt?"

"No. Just tired."

Some part of her mind picked out that when Shino came back, she was supposed to get out.

It was worse than the darkest nightmare to try and get her limps to obey her again. Simply putting her hands against the ground to pull herself up was so draining that she had to give it several tries before a successful one came along.

She regretted not having chosen a space near a tree so that she could rest against it, but she reminded herself that she was not supposed to sleep now.

Finally sitting on her knees, she found herself feeling drowsy, and her head was swinging from one side to another. Her whole body could leap to one side at any second.

"I … I'm coming," she murmured, trying to contact Sakura. She still had her eyes closed; they were too hard to fight.

Nobody seemed to hear her, and she tried to open her eyes through narrowed lids.

Her vision was so blurred and painful, she shut her eyes again, giving out a cry. She knotted her fists, trying to keep back the agony.

"Hinata!"

Arms were suddenly around her, and she fell out of balance.

"Ino?" she murmured.

"Sakura!"

For a few seconds nothing happened, but then she could hear running.

"Hinata-san! Lay back down! You shouldn't be up. Get some rest!" Sakura urged, pulling her back down. It was impossible to fight when someone was pulling the other way.

"No, I … I can work," she mumbled. "I need to go."

"You need to stay down!" Sakura barked, keeping her down when she tried to get up.

Hinata opened her eyes again. Sakura's face was watery, and she wondered if she had tears in her eyes. When water slipped down her cheek, she was sure.

"We can't rest now!" Hinata whispered hoarsely, then half shouting with all her force: "_Byakugan_!"

The ancient blood that flowed in her veins was activated, and her vision was immediately strong and certain. Her fierce eyes looked right through Sakura, searching …

But then the ache hit her again, and she shuttered, closing her eyes again, deactivating her Byakugan.

"Is … Is Hinata all right?"

That was Shino's voice, she knew it.

"She just needs rest. So do you," Sakura said gently. "Ino!" Her voice was not unfriendly, just firm. Hinata wondered how she could so quickly shift between moods. "It's your turn!"

"Hai!" Ino answered willingly, immediately disappearing from Hinata's side.

"I need to go, too," Hinata said as loud as she could, but Sakura continued to hold her down.

"Naruto's orders is that you, Shino and Kiba is to rest until I decide you ready to go on with the mission. Right now, you couldn't be less ready," she told the dark-haired teen girl firmly, but kind.

"Naruto-kun?" Hinata murmured, feeling tears in her eyes again. She hoped Sakura would think they were from the tire.

"Yes." Sakura gritted her teeth. She was more than angry with Naruto because of his act toward Hinata. She'd often requested that he'd go to the Hyuuga Residence and talk with her, but though he hadn't refused, he'd just never answered.

"Now, get some sleep." Sakura left her, leaving thoughts whirling around in Hinata's head, more violently than any punch Sakura could give.

Naruto-kun must think her so weak. She'd been lying on the ground in front of him, not even able to move. He must have been filled with detest towards her.

She fought back the tears and decided to follow the orders so that she could soon continue to help her friends on their mission.

-

"Hinata! Hinata!"

She felt someone shake her softly with a bass voice, until the person's hands was pushed away.

"Hinata!" a new and lighter – more eager – voice called. This new one shook her, too, but this was much more uncomfortable.

"Mmmh," she protested, her eyes fluttering open. She was staring at Kiba. "What is it, Kiba-kun?" she asked. The dark circles that had been under his eyes the last time she'd seen him were gone. So he must have been sleeping.

"Sakura told us to wake you up. She said that if we let you sleep any longer, you'd be too sleep drunk for a while." He grinned a wolfy grin at her, and she got up much more easily than the last time she'd tried.

Everything looked much clearer, and though her eyes were tired and lippy, she wasn't at all on the edge of falling down like before. She felt rather rested.

"Thank you, Kiba-kun," she said, stretching and swiftly pulling together her cover.

"We have new orders, Hinata," Kiba continued eagerly, Akamaru barking by his side.

"We're assigned to go look together," Shino told her, getting up from the ground where Kiba had pushed him to.

Hinata blinked a few times before it sunk in. "You mean … Us? Together? A team?"

"Yea!" Kiba answered excitedly. "We work so much better together than apart."

Shino nodded, and Hinata smiled shyly. She didn't do nearly enough for her team, yet they never blamed her, and they always believed in her. Shino told her that he knew she could do anything, and Kiba was the one worrying whether she'd get hurt. They were like brothers.

"Then let's go!" Hinata said, smiling at the thought of finally doing something useful.

-

Kiba watched her silently. Her head was tilting from one side to another constantly. The dark hair danced in the wind created by their speed, and once again he wondered why she didn't cut it or pull it up in a braid like the others. When he'd asked, she'd just shrugged and not given any coherent answer.

He was worried for her. She always seemed so fragile, and though she was a fatal part of their team, she always seemed as if she thought herself not … enough. Even Shino's countless times of telling her that she was strong and that he believed in her was not enough. She was too much in this dark cycle of hers.

She loved Naruto. He'd never quite realized it, though now that he looked back, he knew it had been obvious. If they'd known, they could have done something for it. Actually, he wasn't particularly sure Shino hadn't figured it out.

He gritted his teeth. She'd told openly about her love for Naruto, and yet he had remained silent about the subject. Kiba hadn't pushed it, but he was thinking about doing it – for Hinata. She ought to have an answer.

"Kiba," Shino said silently, but his voice always shut through the deepest thoughts.

Kiba turned his head, wondering what Shino had on his mind. "Yes?" he asked.

"Try and look for trails this way." He pointed to his left side. "You too, Hinata."

"Hai!" Hinata answered immediately, not caring for the reason that Shino asked her; she trusted him.

Kiba slowly followed as they began to turn their way to the east, and as the other teams scattered around the forest picked up the way they were going, following.

-

"We can smell something," Kiba said. Shino nodded and waited for more. "It's still east, but it's more north, too. But it's sorta' faint, I can't be sure. It's as if something's blocking my –"

"There's belt of cliffs," Hinata cut in, fiercer than they'd heard her before. To someone who didn't know her, she would still sound gentle, but knowing Hinata, Shino knew she was stressed and determined.

"What do you see?" he asked patiently. He didn't really care much for the retrieval of Sasuke – he didn't even really do it for Naruto. Naruto had often let him down, he thought. It was for Hinata's sake. Hinata wanted their help, and she'd never let them down. Shino wouldn't do that to her, then. Though he'd definitely decided that Hinata deserved much better than the blind, insulting and intent-of-murder-bringing Uzumaki Naruto. But if he was the one she wanted …

"It's … It's hard to be sure. I … I think …" She'd gritted her teeth, and there was something about her that … terrified him.

"What is it, Hinata?" he asked, but in the same second, Hinata turned around.

-

She'd been watching the same spot for a hundred seconds, and she knew that her vision should have been through it by now. But it was all kind of blurry, and the chakra on the other side … She couldn't sense it. Yet, somehow, she knew it was there. Not only because of Kiba, but because …

Then something occurred to her, and she gritted her teeth.

"It's … It's hard to be sure," she answered through clenched teeth. "I … I think …" She wasn't sure how to put her thoughts, the revealing she may have discovered.

"What is it, Hinata?" Shino asked her, and she turned around to face him with a flustered, yet fierce, expression. Kiba looked as if he might have laughed if the situation wasn't so serious.

"Shino-kun," she whispered, and reached her hand toward him. "Push chakra into my circulatory system!"

Her request made no sense. Her eyes looked at him as if she wanted very much not to – or see him differently. Which she did.

"Please do this, Shino."

He cautiously placed his hand on hers, and she felt his chakra fill her body.

Her mind almost sprung out of place, and she snapped in air. She didn't know if it would have been different if she hadn't had her Byakugan. But she knew that now, she could see. She was out – she was free.

She took a minute to figure out what to do with her new knowledge.

Then:

"Everybody, come in!" she called into her radio. Lots of "yes" and "hello" and "Hinata-san"'s sounded, and she blushed lightly, not used to be so much in the center. She noticed that Naruto didn't answer.

"I think I've found a clue, but be careful and stay behind us as we approach until we give the signal. Try and press chakra into each other."

"Hinata," Shikamaru said. "What's going on?"

"There's no time to explain. Just do as I said," Hinata answered, trying to sound firm, but she didn't do well.

"Hinata, can you please –" Sakura began, but Kiba cut in.

"Just do as she said, you dump-dugs!" The radio 'screeetched' at his high pitch, and then he cut off. He looked curiously at Hinata. "So what are we going to do?"

Hinata cut off her radio, too. "Thank you, Kiba-kun," she said quietly, truly thankful.

"Dump-dugs?" Shino asked. Kiba just rolled his eyes.

"Then let's get going," he continued eagerly. He didn't know why, but something about Hinata's expression made him all high.

"Wait!" Hinata suddenly called, realizing something. "Shino-kun will have to stay with the others."

They both stared at her before bursting out: "_Why_?"

She didn't have to see his eyes to know that Shino was glaring at her.

"Somebody have to stay behind to make sure they won't march in if an emergency comes. Like if we're encountered by Sasuke!" They still stared at her, not understanding. "They have to stay behind. There's no time for further explanation. I have to go front for this. If Kiba-kun stays behind … Well …" She looked cautiously at her friend and stepped back automatically. "He'll yell at them, and they won't take him serious." Kiba frowned at her, and his lips tightened. "Shino-kun, you can make them pause."

Shino looked over her words for a few seconds before nodding and disappearing to encounter the others.

Hinata then turned back to Kiba and grabbed his shoulders, pushing her chakra into him. He raised his eyebrows.

"Sniff," she told him. "Sniff that way." She pointed where they'd both been able to sense something, but not quite positively.

His eyes widened as he understood. "Genjutsu," he breathed.

Hinata nodded and did the same thing to Akamaru, not sure if dogs were immune to genjutsu or not.

"Come on!" she urged then, setting off.

-

"Shino!" voices asked questioningly and confused.

He nodded simply.

"What are you doing here?" Naruto asked.

"I will explain when we unite with the others," Shino answered and began turning their route toward the other teams. He'd already send his insects to them.

They met only ten minutes later.

"Shino!" the others burst out as the first teams had. They stopped in front of each other.

"What's going on?" Shikamaru asked.

"I don't know," Shino answered. "Hinata saw something."

"What did she see?" Naruto urged.

Shino was glad he always wore glasses; Hinata couldn't be sad or mad over the angry glance he send Naruto. So now he was interested in her?

"She didn't tell us. She said that there was no time to explain. She told me to stay behind to make sure you would not interfere."

Shino saw some kind of weird emotion run over Naruto's face, but the blonde guy didn't say anything.

_That's better for him, too_.

He definitely had suffered a more openly violent nature from being with Kiba so much.

"What did she mean with the chakra thing?" Sakura asked.

"I don't know. She told me to push chakra into her, and that was when she seemed to see something," Shino answered.

"Then we should be doing that, too," Naruto urged, and immediately everyone grabbed each other to push chakra into one another.

"Nothing happens," Ino complained.

Shino frowned.

"What's supposed to happen?"

"I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know?" Lee asked.

"_Listen_!" Shino cut their complaints off. "Hinata told us to do this, and as her comrades, we should trust her. I trust her, and I know that she will do the right thing. How do I know? Because I'm her friend, and good friends just know those kinds of things."

Silence only covered them for a few moments.

"Should I send a drawing after them?" Sai asked. "Or watch them from the sky?"

Shino shook his head. "She told me to make sure you didn't march into battle. She'll give the signal."

-

"I can't believe we didn't notice before!" Kiba growled behind her, and Akamaru barked grudgingly.

"There's no one to blame but me, Kiba-kun. I should have noticed before," Hinata murmured.

Kiba hurried to her side. "Of course this isn't your fault, Hinata!" he assured her, astounded that she'd found a way to turn this on herself.

"Neji would have seen it."

"Well, you're not Neji!"

"I should be!" she suddenly hissed. "Why am I so week? Why can't I do anything right? I'll never be the leader the Hyuuga clan deserves!"

Kiba took a minute to just stare at her. He'd figured pretty quickly that the Hyuuga clan was stronger and more firm than he had ever imagined. Hinata's self confidence was none existing when he met her, and he was positive that it was her family that had destroyed it. But he'd seen her develop over the years, seen her become strong in body, and even stronger in mind. She would be an excellent leader.

"Hinata, don't put this on yourself! This isn't your fault. You're really strong – stronger than you or anybody knows – and you can accomplish anything you put in mind."

He watched her face smoothen a bit, and he was genuinely happy to see her blush again.

"Then I hope that what is in my mind right now is something I will accomplish," she murmured, and he wasn't sure if he was supposed to hear it, so he didn't respond.

_Naruto_, he though fiercely, _if you're the cause of this, so be it, I'll kill you_!

-

"Can you sense it, too?" Hinata asked.

"Yea. But my nose isn't getting so many vibes anymore. Are we getting into a new genjutsu?" Kiba asked.

Hinata nodded. "We'll have to put more chakra into each other."

They grabbed each other and silently pushed chakra into each other, disturbing the genjutsu.

"How can he do this?" Kiba sighed. "He's not even near us."

"Sasuke was always gifted. It makes sense that he's become stronger," Hinata answered simply, if not a bit awry.

"Why can't the others come?" Kiba asked as they continued.

Hinata didn't answer at first; they'd reached the wall of cliffs that she'd anticipated, and was now trying to find a way over or under it.

"Because they can't break free of the genjutsu – or, I'm fairly sure of that." She found a way with her Byakugan and started to lead the way.

"Why?" Kiba asked. "We found away simply by pushing chakra into each other."

"This is very strong genjutsu, Kiba. If you haven't trained very hard in chakra control, you can't do it. If it wasn't me pushing chakra into you, you would still be in the genjutsu," she explained.

"But what about Shino? His chakra control isn't perfect, either."

"No, but I helped him," she answered, not going further into her words. "Let's hurry. We need to find a strong clue quickly so we can call for the others before it comes to a battle."

They continued quickly over the cliffs, both not getting tired. They were anticipating what would come. Kiba was, as always, eager for a fight, and Hinata wanted to prove her worth.

"Harh!" she gasped, prompting into a stop. Kiba turned toward her, listening impatiently for words to tell him what she had seen. But she didn't say anything. Instead she moved up on one cliff and stared for a long time toward northeast. Then she smiled hugely. "I've found them!" she told him happily.

"Really? That's great, Hinata! Let's fetch the others!" He was already reaching for his radio, but she was instantly at his side, keeping his hand from it.

"We have to be sure it's safe!" she told him.

"But … Of course it isn't safe. It's Sasuke."

She cringed, and her shoulders sank. He knew it had been her last attempt to protect Naruto – that bastard.

He sighed and called for the others.

-

"This is so awesome!" Naruto announced, grinning widely. "We're so near now, Sakura-chan!"

Sakura smiled, obviously as glad as Naruto, though not as obvious about it. Of course, there was no feeling Naruto wouldn't share with his friends.

"Let's go!" Naruto urged.

"Ano, Naruto … kun," Hinata cut in. Many eyes looked at her, including Naruto's – though his was not looking directly into her eyes, only her cheek. She blushed. "We … we're in a genjutsu. We need to get all of you out of it. But this is another genjutsu – it takes good chakra control to get out."

"Then let's get to work, Hinata-san," Sakura suggested.

Hinata nodded and quickly did as she said, moving from one person to another, opening their eyes from the genjutsu.

"I feel no difference," Choji murmured, and Lee nodded in agreement.

"It's only noticeable for someone like Kiba or me," Hinata answered. "Trackers. I noticed when I was looking for Sasuke and his gang. I could sense them, yet I couldn't quite see them. Then it was that I thought that Sasuke had trapped us in a genjutsu."

"So easily," Naruto breathed.

"I wouldn't risk that he pulled us further into a genjutsu," she continued, then blushed once more. When she was finished, she went to stand by Kiba and Shino, seeking to hide there. Her heart was still racing after being the center of things for so long.

"What do we do now?" TenTen asked.

"We should wait for Neji," Shikamaru pointed out, and Hinata felt her heart slumping down into her stomach. "It's been a fairly long time since we send for him. He could be here any moment." He turned to Hinata. "Can you see him?"

Hinata turned her Byakugan toward Konoha without a word. She focused hard, and then she saw it.

She nodded once. "Hai! He's coming. Fast. He'll be here within an hour."

"We could lose them!" Naruto exclaimed.

"We could go and keep an eye on them," Kiba suggested. He was obviously talking about him, Hinata and Shino. "We're the trackers."

"No!" Sakura said before anyone could respond. "As a healer, I cannot let you do this. It's too risky."

"We'll keep our distance," Shino promised.

"No!" Sakura ground her teeth together, her fists knotting together.

"Take it easy, Sakura," Kiba grinned. "We can take care of ourselves. We'll report back." He grabbed Hinata's arm before anyone could continue the discussion, and their little squad was off again.

Sakura was about to follow, but Naruto put a hand on her shoulder. She looked questioningly at him, and he shook his head. She glared at him and shook out from under his hand. He stared confused at her, not knowing what she meant with that or how to react.

-

"Why did you do that, Kiba-kun?" Hinata asked. "Sakura was right. It is dangerous to go any further."

Kiba ground his teeth together, and Akamaru growled. "It's Naruto," he answered.

Hinata blushed, though she didn't yet know what he was talking about. "What did he do?" she asked.

"It's what he _didn't_ do, Hinata!" Kiba answered angrily. "That guy doesn't deserve to be inside three miles of you."

Hinata looked away, blushing furiously.

"Kiba is right – for once," Shino noted. "He doesn't deserve your affection."

This wasn't really Hinata's favorite situation; talking about her love for someone with the two guys she'd practically grown up with.

"Th-th-that's n-not r-really any of y-your business!" she stuttered. She was frightened at it; she hadn't don't it for a long time.

She saw that they'd noticed, too – of course. They were the ones having to put up with it.

"Let's just focus on the mission, shall we?" Kiba suggested friendly, and Akamaru barked happily.

She smiled. "Yes. We'll keep track of Sasuke and his gang." She focused her Byakugan again, watching Sasuke's back.

"What does Naruto hope will happen, anyway?" Kiba asked. "Does he just think that Sasuke can return, just like that? People wouldn't allow that, even if he is an Uchiha."

Shino shrugged. "He's weird. He doesn't really think of such things. I guess he just follows some kind of instinct."

Kiba snickered. "Insanity."

"Kiba-kun!" Hinata exclaimed. "Naruto-kun isn't insane! He believes in himself and his friends!"

The two boys looked at each other in exasperation. Even after what he'd done to her, Hinata still defended Naruto.

"Even if you're right, it's a long shot," Shino pointed out, but Hinata did not answer. She seemed very confident when it came to Naruto, as she always did.

They continued in silence.

-

"Where's Hinata-sama?" Neji asked when he arrived. He'd frozen as soon as he'd realized she wasn't there. Had something happened to her? The mere thought made it ache inside him. He didn't know he cared for her so much. He didn't know there was such fear.

He'd been in many situations where friends he loved could die, and also when it came to Hinata. But after their fight, it was as if things had changed between them. They were closer – if only a little. And it suddenly meant so much more if Hinata was hurt.

He remembered his father's words that he'd hated the main branch, and that he sacrificed his life for his brother, not for the clan. It was somewhat the same thing he felt now; many would feel sorrow on behalf of the clan if Hinata died, but he only felt sorrow for his cousin, his friend. But, somehow, that also made him care for the clan. Because Hinata cared, and she'd always cared. That was why she'd fought so much to change herself, to become a good heiress. And he felt that the Hyuuga clan could change for the better when she became the clan leader.

So as his mind ran over the many possibilities of what could have happened to his cousin, he felt more and more cold, more and more terrified.

"Neji-kun," TenTen hurried, seeing his reaction. She was intrigued by it. She'd never seen him do anything like this. "Hinata-san is well alive."

"Then where is she?" Neji asked, much more relaxed now. He shook off the weird feelings that had overwhelmed him.

"She, Shino and Kiba went first so that Sasuke wouldn't get away again while we waited for you," Naruto answered.

Neji didn't even give him a glance.

"Then let's hurry up and get going!" He immediately reactivated his Byakugan, quickly finding the trails of his cousin and her teammates. He wouldn't forgive himself if something happened to Hinata because of him.

He was fairly sure that Hiashi and Hanabi wouldn't, either.

-

"Stop!" Shino ordered, and the others looked questioningly at her. They'd been running for almost an hour now, never letting their eyes – or bugs or noses – off the target. They couldn't afford to let them get away.

"What is it?" Kiba asked irritated.

"The others are starting to follow us. My bugs tells me that the female is moving closer. I left a few with them," Shino answered.

"Should we stay here?" Hinata asked. She felt relief that Neji would soon be with them.

"No, then we'll definitely lose them. They can't be ignorant to the fact that we're following them. We just shouldn't keep up as well as we have the last hour," Shino answered.

"Okay!" the other two answered.

"Hinata, how far can you see?" Shino asked.

Hinata turned toward Sasuke and strengthened her will and Byakugan, forcing herself to see further than before. It thrummed in her head.

"About three miles," she answered. "A good way toward four. But I can't keep that up for long."

"How quickly are they moving?"

"They'll be out of my sight in less than twenty minutes," she answered.

"Then we'll keep a pace so that we'll be only right inside your field of vision."

"Hai," Hinata answered, finding a more subtle running that reminded much of walking.

She felt more at ease now, thinking of Neji. Her own Byakugan was tired, even after her long sleep. She hadn't known that a Byakugan could get tired. She thought it was only the Sharingan that could numb the user like that. But apparently overuse of the Byakugan would result in something very near that.

_Neji-kun can take over now. His Byakugan is much better, and he isn't tired or gets tired as fast as I_.

Her little smile turned sad. She couldn't help being jealous, thinking that it was supposed to be her with that kind of power.

Her only hope was that he would someday stop hating the main branch, if only a little.

"No!" she suddenly gasped, noticing something that she hadn't before.

Her Byakugan was still watching Sasuke's gang far from them, north. Her ears was hearing nothing but her comrades. Her nose smelled nothing but what it was supposed to be smelling. She felt nothing but the wind and the tree trunks under her feet.

Then why did another sense, some superstition, tell her that she hadn't gotten everything.

"Shino, how are your bugs?" she gasped.

Shino looked surprised at her, but before he could check, something new flickered through her mind. It was as if she could see some shadow that wasn't there, yet couldn't.

She jumped and kicked Shino out of the way.

"Hinata!" Kiba shouted.

"Kiba-kun, chakra!" Hinata gasped, not knowing how to say anything else. She reached for him with her arm, and without seeming to think about it, he quickly put his hand on her arm, pushing chakra into her. She led it on the way, pushing away the genjutsu she just _knew_ – thought she didn't know _how_ – had crept over them without any of them noticing.

And then they weren't far to the north; they were right there, standing a few meters away. The girl with the red hair – their informative named her Karin – looked angrily at her, half crouching where Shino had just been.

Without letting her eyes flicker to the one with black hair, she almost hammered her hand in terror into Kiba and Akamaru, making their chakra systems settle. Kiba's eyes had been a weird milky, but now they saw. He shifted his eyes to her, then slowly to those standing before us, but before his eyes could widen, they realized there was no time for that.

The big one with blonde hair attacked before they could even notice, and if it hadn't been for Akamaru, they would have been victims for the rough punch.

Akamaru sprang off the branch, and Kiba pulled Hinata with him, and they both ended a few meters away. Behind them, the blonde one – Jugo, unstable – had crushed the branch completely.

Hinata gasped. She looked around for Shino, feeling cold.

Not thinking, she jumped away from Kiba, desperate to find her friend.

Karin was already going for it, grinning widely at Hinata, knowing that she was going to win.

"No!" Hinata screamed, suddenly doing something she'd never felt much need to: she grabbed a kunai and threw it at the redhead. The other laughed when she easily dodged. "No!" she gasped again, watching the other's path, calculated, watched and felt the flow of air around her, and then she threw her fist into emptiness, pressing chakra out as if she was hitting someone.

The chakra followed the wind, as she wanted, easily, feeling the flow, letting it guide – right up where Karin was on her way to.

There was no way she could stop it when the chakra hit her arm. It was impossible to make a very dangerous attack this way, but this time it came convenient. Karin had hesitated for a moment.

She hurried, pushing chakra to her feet. She found Shino standing still behind a tree with her Byakugan, figuring he'd quickly found out that something was wrong.

"Shino-kun!" she gasped and pushed her chakra into him, leading it.

"Hinata," he murmured, looking at her for a second through his glasses. "How did you –" He stopped, grabbing her by the waist, turning them, held his hand forward, and then a massive wave of bugs send them backwards. It all happened so fast, she only knew what was going on because of her Byakugan.

They were standing too far from Kiba now, separated. Shino was still holding her protectively, and though the bugs were still in the air in front of them, they could see through them now.

Jugo had cut through the tree. His eyes were glowing in some strange way, and with her Byakugan, Hinata could see his chakra change, molding in a way she hadn't seen before.

But then she remembered what Neji had said about people with the Cursed Seal and their chakra.

So this guy had the Cursed Seal. This could turn out very bad if they didn't get backup soon.

"How far are the others?" whispered Hinata, too preoccupied with their opponents to look herself.

"Maybe half an hour," Shino answered.

"Kiba-kun!" she choked out, looking for him. He was okay, standing before the guy with the huge sword – Suigetso.

"Take it easy, Hinata! If we get separated, we're done for. We must give him an opening to come to us."

She gritted her teeth, watching his bugs in the air. Karin and Jugo was watching them, grinning. Karin's arm was alright again.

Karin was a chakra-sensing type, Hinata knew. Would the plan in her head work?

"Shino-kun, form a line of bugs with very little space between each so that Kiba is parted with the others – all three," Hinata whispered.

"What are you planning?"

She shook her head, and he simply moved his hands a few times so that the bugs would get in formation.

She nodded once, stepping forth with her hands toward the robe of insects. These bugs were chakra-eating, but they couldn't eat all of her chakra, what was left would be send on.

Pushing her chakra into them, she concentrated on molding it right and concentrating on the path she wanted it to make.

As she had expected, there was only half of her chakra left once it got to the other end, but that matter little. She gasped and send the chakra flowing in the air toward Suigetso, giving Kiba an opening to move.

He saw it, and he took it.

She felt beyond relieved when he was once again by their sides.

The two teams stood facing each other with the bugs as a thin film between them. Jugo, Karin and Suigetso stood on the front line while Sasuke stood behind, looking arrogantly at them.

"Don't look into his eyes!" Hinata whispered.

"Right," Kiba growled. Shino just nodded.

"So you're the sacrifices Naruto is making for his mission," Sasuke stated. He shook his head. "I thought he was always babbling on about how they're so important to him."

If it hadn't been for her Byakugan, Hinata wouldn't have noticed the twitch he made with his finger. Suddenly, semi-giant snakes dug up from the earth, wrapping themselves around them. They were not illusions.

She saw him twitch his hand again, and her Byakugan knew what was coming.

When the snakes started to crush her, she send chakra out to her skin, making it hard. When they were restrained, she send chakra to her muscles, working against them. She couldn't break free this way, but if she could just get her hand free, she could make a juugen.

She saw Sasuke wave his hand to the others, and they ran for Shino's wall.

"No!" she gasped, clapping the snake as well as she could, trying to press some chakra in, but she wasn't successful.

Akamaru whined and her comrades groaned in pain.

She hopped.

She didn't why, but she did, and she pushed fierce chakra to her feet, so that when she hit the ground again, it broke underneath her, shaking her and the snake so that she got time to place a successful juugen.

Then she hurried to Shino, who were closest. His bugs were already fighting.

Only seconds …

She placed two juugen on Kiba's snake and then on Akamaru's.

Strings formed under the ground in the gray colors of Byakugan.

"Jump!" she shouted, and they all followed her orders as snakes broke through the ground.

Hinata was severely remorseful that she didn't have any major combo attacks that worked on distance.

Shino called back his bugs, and they were once again standing motionless in front of their enemies.

"You have to fight them," Hinata whispered to her companions. "I'll stay behind and look for anything hidden."

"Got it!" Kiba answered.

Then he and Shino jumped toward the enemies while Hinata looked around for hidden snakes.

"Getsuga!" Kiba shouted. He and Akamaru whirled toward the enemy.

The battle began. They always kept moving, knowing that just because Sasuke stood in the background didn't mean he didn't participate.

Thought the others had a tough time getting to the Konoha shinobi, they still had the upper hand. Every time a move was made, team 8 had to move a little behind. Hinata constantly looked if there was something behind them that they could be trying to lead them to. She also made sure to frequently shoot chakra into the others so that they wouldn't be taken by a genjutsu.

How much time had passed now? It seemed so hopeless; they were facing an enemy they could not conquer, yet they had to stay alive for a whole half hour.

And Jugon's chakra was turning more and more violent. His eyes were shifting. He was changing …

Neji told her that when the Cursed Seal was activated, it made the chakra's strength explode. She couldn't let this happen.

She made a leap to the middle of the battlefield, running straight for the big one.

His eyes burned at her, and her only hope was that she could get through his barriers to his chest.

She shot her arm through the air, sending another shot of chakra toward him to distract him. It took much of her concentration and chakra, and it was tiresome. She couldn't do this many more times.

But it was apparently enough to distract him, or he was easier to distract in this mode.

She moved her hand quickly and fiercely to his chest, pressing chakra into him to stop what was going on. It only took seconds, then he was as before, as when he'd first attacked.

She jumped out of the way again, knowing that he was still very dangerous.

Safely standing in her tree again, she noticed Sasuke's sharingan eyes watching her. Never really meeting his eyes, she looked at him. She wondered why Naruto and Sakura wanted this guy back so much, but she let it go; love was an irrational thing. She knew that herself.

She gritted her teeth, jumping to Shino's side to shove Karin out of the way. Karin avoided her Juugen, suddenly standing with a kunai in her hand. She sprang. Hinata lifted her hands to defend herself. Shot the kunai. Hinata avoided.

And Karin was right in front of her, with a new kunai in her hand, smiling triumphantly.

She made a silent "harh!" when Karin's kunai bored through her stomach.

-

Neji pulled his hands into fists, clenching his teeth. Hinata was still alive, but he was watching the fight closely, his hands itching to join the fight. The closer he came to his cousin, the more this strange feeling grew in him. It was as if every step got him closer to something – something more than Hinata.

His clan.

Could Hinata really make him not hate it? Not hate the seal? He felt that she could. She was strong and willful, and he wanted to protect her when she became the clan leader. No, before that. Even now.

Their relationship had always been questionable, but he wanted badly to be her friend. They were more alike than he'd ever thought.

And protecting Hinata would also mean protecting what his father died for. Hinata would fight for the side branch, even though she was from the main branch. She was the one who would bring a revolution to the family.

He had to protect that.

That, and his friend.

"Hinata-sama, Kiba and Shino has encountered Sasuke and his team," he informed the others.

"What? No!" Sakura exclaimed. "How far are we from them?"

"Too far," Neji answered. "We have to three double our speed."

"_What_?" the others shouted.

"We can't do that!" TenTen gasped, already having trouble with breathing.

"She's right," Lee announced, making everyone look at him. "We have to pick up four times so that we can say that we did our best!"

The others came with various expressions of their emotions, ones that Neji didn't care for. "If we don't, they'll die," he commented icily, already far in front of the others, panting. "Hinata-sama is hurt."

"How badly?" Sakura asked, glancing angrily at Naruto who looked away with something looking like shame.

"If she doesn't get hurt like that again, she'll manage till we get there, but healing her will be your first job, Sakura." Then he flinched, seeing Hinata push herself away from the woman and pulling the kunai out with an agonized face.

"Five times!" he growled, running even faster.

-

Hinata was panting, trying to keep her eyes on everything, though her instincts kept most of her focus on Karin.

Karin was grinning evidently, knowing victory was near. Hinata tried frantically to find out what to do, but her mind was too blurry to work quickly enough. Before she knew of it, Karin had crossed the space between them, the kunai nearing her left shoulder too swiftly.

Adrenalin shot through her, and in a sudden second of clarification, she send chakra to her feet, jumping out of the way at the last second.

Karin sent the kunai flying through the air towards her, but she grabbed it in the air, sending it back.

Hinata climbed the tree, only using her feet, finding a good position near the top. The leafs whistled around her, tickling her cheek. She didn't notice. She was too preoccupied with Karin, who was moving too fast after her. She was desperate to come up with an idea, but none arrived. She wished she had the genius Shikamaru's skill at thinking through two hundred different moves in a second.

But she didn't.

She knew she needed time to think, so she fled cowardly backwards with a grinning Karin following her.

With her Byakugan she could see her friends enclosed in fierce combat, both of them at the edge of their skills, much like herself, only they stayed where they were supposed to be.

Kiba was fighting Suigetso and Shino the big guy, Jugo. Sasuke had yet to join the battle, but she knew that if she strayed too far away, he could attack them with his snakes without them seeing what was coming for them.

She grabbed another Kunai, this one with an explosion seal on it. She made the seal break with a hand movement, forcing Karin to protect herself against the fire.

That was how she got the idea.

She smiled back at Karin, taking up another Kunai with a seal whilst hiding another seal, ready to be placed on an object, up her sleeve, literally.

"Ha!" Karin snorted, easily catching up with her. "What are you going to do with that?"

Hinata had stopped on a branch, awaiting her opponents arrival. When the time came, she threw the kunai, jumping back and using the waves from the explosion to get as far away as possible.

Karin, now standing on a branch nearby, laughed at her. "Come on, you've gotta have something better than that."

Hinata gasped and formed the seal, releasing her chakra – she felt the drain make her knees buckle.

The seal she'd placed on the branch she just left exploded violently, but it reached further and more destructively than the other two. Karin grinned at first, but then she realized something was wrong, and she tried to get out of the way.

But Hinata had placed her chakra in the bomb, and she was now guiding it as far as she could. She felt like she may know how Shikamaru's skills worked; she had only limited lengths to work on.

In the end she hit Karin's right leg and arm, smashing the woman to the ground.

Hinata gasped for air, trying to stop the swimming in her head and ignore the pain in her stomach.

Karin had not been devastatingly hurt, but they should be somewhat near the same level now. Hinata wondered how much damage she could have done if she'd also concentrated on Karin's tenketsu.

But then several kunais and shurikens came flying with destructive seals bound to them, and she hurried away, hoping that Karin hadn't just copied her trick. For safety's sake, she pressed chakra to her back as she ran, trying to make some sort of shield.

She found a way to get back to Kiba's side, where she let herself rest against a tree. Suigetso didn't even glance at her, and Kiba didn't have the time. He had already gotten himself a few minor scratches and one big one. Akamaru hadn't gotten hurt, and Hinata figured Kiba had gotten the big one trying to protect his dog.

She looked for Jugo, fearing that the strange chakra might be rising inside of him again. She was happy to see that her blockades were still working.

Then her Byakugan made her aware of the kunai coming from behind, and she turned around and grabbed it, sending out a juugen at Karin, who was flying through the air.

Hinata hit her very near the heart, and she was send back falling. Her eyes were already closed when she hit the ground, and blood glistened on her lips. Hinata could see that she was still alive.

She'd done something near the same thin Neji did to her.

She jumped up to the next branch when Suigetso swanghis sword toward her, thereafter swinging it back toward Kiba, who answered with a getsuga.

"Hinata!" Shino shouted, and she hurried to his side. "You have to run for the others."

"No!" she gasped.

"We'll be fine. Now that Karin is –"

"She's not dead, and Sasuke is still here. Without my Buakugan –"

"Get the others!"

"No!" she said again. She wasn't going to back down this time.

She turned toward Jugo and ran in to the mist of bugs.

"Ihaaaa!" she shouted, pushing her hands toward Jugo. He avoided, looking at her with lazy eyes. She only needed one blow, only once …

Her palm touched his chest lightly, and she send a massive amount of chakra into him, following his chakra system, pushing its way through him, forming as she wanted it …

She gasped in pain as she was suddenly surrounded by snakes, all trying to choke her, all biting for her. Jugo had been pulled back from her attack before she could do any vital damage. All her training … for nothing. She would never again get the chance to prove herself to Naruto. And now she'd used so much chakra …

And she was panting.

"Hinata!" Shino called, but it sounded blurrily.

A buzzing sound reached her ears. She'd closed her eyes and Byakugan when the snakes surrounded her, so she didn't know what was going on. She dared now open her eyes to look.

Before even getting the chance to use her Byakugan, she was staring into the eyes of a snake, but not only a snake's eyes, it was … Sasuke's.

She screamed soundlessly; it was impossible to call for enough air to perform such a task.

The snakes tightened around her, and she knew she'd faint soon; she'd tried it enough times to know when it would happen.

That was when hope began to grow inside her; somewhere, she couldn't quite detect it, the pressure on her eased a bit. And then other places followed.

Soon, all the snakes lay dying around her. She hastily forced herself to activate her Byakugan, seeing bugs eating off the chakra of the snakes.

Then she noticed that strings were forming under the ground again, and other snakes bored their way through the ground.

"Getsuga!" Kiba shouted somewhere, and the snakes fell to the ground by the hands – and paws – of Kiba and Akamaru.

Before more snakes could be summoned, Kiba grabbed Hinata and hurried to safety behind the walls of Shino's bugs that even reached underground.

"Are you okay, Hinata?" Kiba asked. He rested her against his knees, and she could see his face, though not as detailed as it was supposed to be.

She was still panting when she answered. "I-I th-think s-s-o-," she whispered, stumbling over her words as she tried to get out of the shock and shakiness.

Kiba turned his head in the way Sasuke stood. Sasuke's face was deadpan, and his eyes flickered to Kiba's.

"No!" Hinata whispered, grabbing Kiba's arm as he froze. She had to free him immediately!

"K-Kiba!" she gasped when he didn't react. His eyes were still captured by Sasuke's. "No!" she cried out. "Kiba-kun!"

She smacked her hand up in front of his eyes and kept pushing little bits of chakra into him, trying to disconnect the genjutsu.

Finally, he gasped after air in her arms, shaking heavily, as if he had just been under great torture.

Hinata gritted her teeth, looking at Sasuke with a feeling she'd never felt so strongly before: hate. Not even when Naruto fought Pain had she felt hate – she'd been too preoccupied with nervous, protective and fear on behalf of Naruto.

But she hadn't had time to build up those feelings, so the first thing that hit her was hate – and that stuck.

"Are you okay, Kiba-kun?" she whispered. Shino was already holding off not only Jugo and Suigetso but also Sasuke's snakes from underground.

He nodded weakly.

"Shino-kun!" she shouted. "We need to get away from the ground!"

He nodded grimly, waiting for her to take the first step.

She let Kiba rest against her shoulders and fought her way up into a tree. Shino followed quickly.

Akamaru put his nose against his disturbed master's cheek, and Kiba groggily patted its head. His eyes countless times rolled back into his skull.

"Oh, Kiba-kun," Hinata whispered, making sure he was resting safely against the tree.

Then she stood and looked with stern eyes across the space at Sasuke. "If I stop moving," she whispered to Shino, "close my eyes and push chakra into me." Shino nodded simply.

Sasuke shook his head at her, his lips pulling up a bit at the ends.

"Let's do this quickly," he told his comrades – or minions, she wasn't sure. They nodded.

"You won't get away this time," Hinata hissed. She was still looking at Sasuke, forcing herself not to look into his eyes.

"You think that little backup team you've got coming will help you much?" he asked.

She'd almost forgotten about them – the instinct to survive had totally taken over her senses.

She looked for them, and she found her cousin, looking back at her, only ten minutes away. It hadn't taken her long to find them; with Neji leading them, they were in a straight line from herself.

Neji saw her looking at him, and he gritted his teeth, nodding at her, and his mouth formed the words: _survive_. She flinched and felt as if her neck had frozen, but she somehow managed to nod.

His face seemed a bit relieved, though not much.

She turned her focus back on Sasuke.

"Naruto alone could take you. All of us at once – you don't have a chance." She was so confident in her own words that she felt a bit high saying them.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "Naruto was useless the last time I encountered him, and he'll be just as useless again this time."

Any other person than a Hyuuga would have knotted their fists, making ready to punch, at such an assault against their friend. Being a Hyuuga, she flattened her hands, making ready for the Gentle Fist.

"Hinata!" Shino shouted. "She's back! I can't take on all of them!"

She looked to see what he meant, and just as he was saying; Karin was back. She'd just have to knock her down once and for all this time.

"I've got it!" she answered, jumping down from the tree.

She was immediately met by five snakes, but she agilely put her hand against the side of one and jumped to the ground, then placing juugens on the snakes as she found her way to Karin, whom she made move to place an attack on.

Karin dodged and kicked her feet away under her. Hinata was already out of breath from the attack of the snakes and saving Kiba. Karin was at an advantage this time.

_I only need to hit her once_, she reminded herself, smacking her hand toward Karin's leg, but Karin was already away, having figured out how she worked.

Then snakes were all over the place: above, underneath, left and right.

Her body moved on its own as she shouted: "Kaiten!"

She could only keep it up for a few seconds; then she realized kaiten didn't have much effect on the bigger snakes, and she had to jump out of the way.

She found herself jumping from one place to another, avoiding all the snakes that came no matter where she went. How could Sasuke do this without even moving. Only his eyes followed her around, as she tried to avoid getting the snakes too close to her friends and at the same time trying to find a way to attack Karin.

His eyes …

She was pretty sure that they weren't caught in a genjutsu; then they'd probably been killed from outside the genjutsu already. But maybe Sasuke was hypnotizing the snakes … Maybe they were in a genjutsu.

Kiba and Akamaru helped her once more with a getsuga, but it was shaky and unstable. Kiba landed beside her, his eyes rolling a little. Shino followed straight after. They placed themselves with their backs against each other as their enemies attacked.

As the snakes broke from the ground towards them, Karin launched herself toward Hinata.

Hinata placed a new juugen in the air in front of her opponent, chakra blowing from her, forming a system of tenketsus, making a clone of Karin's tenketsus.

Karin fell right into the clone, screaming when the effects began.

With her Byakugan Hinata saw the dots on Karin's skin where the tenketsus were. Every tenketsu was blocked now, leaving Karin useless except for taijutsu.

Hinata was just about to attack again when her head swirled and she stumbled back against Kiba's back. Karin punched her in the stomach several times, then in her head, then at her neck – and then she didn't know where. She didn't know if it were fists or kunais, all she knew was that she was suddenly laying on the ground.

She hadn't trained enough with her new technique that she could use minimum chakra to make it. Instead, she was using maximum, and that was taking its toll on her now.

She tried to place juugens, but Karin moved too quickly. She was moving – crawling, rather – backwards like her teammates, and she knew that they were all lost.

_I'm sorry. It's my fault. You sacrificed yourselves for my sake. I'm so …_ Karin punched her to the ground again, and she didn't get up. _Sorry_.

Karin's fist moved towards her head, and it would soon go straight through her skull.

_Naruto-kun_.

She'd closed her eyes. Her Byakugan hadn't been activated for a while. She didn't know if she could move.

And then a _smack _sounded, and she opened her eyes.

Another hand was holding Karin's back.

In the shades from the trees above them, Neji stood, keeping Karin's attack from hurting her. Then he pushed the redhead away, grabbed Hinata and pulled her up into his arms. He turned and ran back toward the others, followed by Shino, Kiba and Akamaru.

Hinata was surprised at how much further than the others Neji were; they had to run for about twenty seconds before meeting up with them.

"Sakura!" Neji demanded sharply, and Sakura was there instantly.

"Let's go!" Naruto shouted.

"We'll join you as soon as possible," Kiba promised sourly – still not too fond of Naruto.

"No. You should stay here. You've done your part," Naruto said.

"We're comrades. We'll do our best for our friends, because that is how real friends acts," Shino said in his dark, soothing voice. "And real friends accepts this with gratitude."

Naruto hesitated at moment, then he nodded and followed the others who were already on their way.

That left Sakura, Hinata, Kiba, Shino and Neji left.

"Neji," Hinata murmured. "Why aren't you joining up …?"

"I'll join them in a minute, Hinata-sama," he answered solemnly. Then he turned his words toward someone else. "Is she going to be all right?"

"She'll be fine in a moment, Neji," Sakura answered, and Hinata could hear the yearning in her voice. Of course. She wanted to see Sasuke.

"I don't need the big treatment, Sakura. Just minimum," Hinata said hoarsely.

"No!" Neji exclaimed. "You'll get that wound closed, and you won't go into battle again."

Hinata tried to smile as Sakura worked over her. "What? Worried the heiress can't take care of herself?"

She could see the lines in his forehead smooth, and he said in a friendly and soothing voice: "No. I'm afraid my cousin can't take care of herself. You're family."

Hinata chuckled lightly. "You're a quick thinker."

"Try to stay still, Hinata. I'm almost done," Sakura announced. "Your wounds aren't too deep."

When she was done with Hinata, she moved quickly to Kiba, Shino and Akamaru. Kiba's deep wound took her a little time, but she was off soon enough.

Hinata wondered what was happening with Naruto and Sasuke, but she didn't use her Byakugan to see. She was too exhausted, and it must be the same as always; Naruto would try to convince Sasuke to come home, and Sasuke would be overly arrogant. She still felt that she should be by Naruto's side, protecting him against whatever would happen, and giving him backup.

"What's happening?" she asked Neji weakly. She was surprised at how her voice had suddenly turned raspy.

Neji shrugged. "The usual."

As she expected.

Then Neji's face turned wondering and confused. Almost some sort of anger flickered across his usually emotionless face. "He's accusing Konoha for the death of the Uchiha clan."

"Wha-?" Hinata exclaimed. "But that was Uchiha Ita-"

"I know you can't see their lips to read what they're saying, but try to listen," Neji suggested.

Hinata sighed and tried to listen. True enough, Sasuke was blaming Konoha. He was saying that his brother was ordered to slay his entire clan. Naruto exclaimed this was a lie. Hinata understood him and hoped for it. Kiba and Shino were fully agreeing with Naruto and the others.

But Neji and Hinata glanced at each other, knowing the political troubles in a country.

"We should join them as true comrades should do," Shino said and slowly got up. He helped Kiba up, too, and wavered his hand at Hinata.

Hinata made a movement to get up, too, though it hurt, but Neji grasped her shoulder and held her down. He looked seriously at Neji. "I can't let one of the main branch members get killed. She's too weakened to go out there." His eyes stared the fiercest of his ways at Shino, and his voice was convincing, almost deadly.

"Neji, I can –"

"No!" he cut her off.

Kiba looked as if he was going to say something, but Shino grabbed his arm and pulled him along towards the others.

She began to sit up, but Neji looked seriously at her and tried to push her back down again. "I'm just sitting," she murmured.

He let her sit up, and they both turned their heads towards Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura. Sakura was pleading with Sasuke, but in a new way, almost threatening.

Sasuke was only asking to be let alone, but Kiba and Shino had arrived now, and they were obviously against this.

She activated her Byakugan and looked. It was easier now that she could read their lips.

Sasuke's comrades – or minions – were looking at the Konoha shinobi like they could take them on any time.

"Neji, can we please go to the edge of the field? I want to be there."

She looked as her cousin's face turned angry and a bit angst.

"What's wrong?" she asked, confused and worried.

"Hinata, you've become like something of a sister to me. I can't just let you go there again. I watched you get hurt with my Byakugan. And furthermore, you're the heiress," he told her.

"But as the heiress, I have to be able to be on the front line," she argued.

He frowned, then sighed and gently helped her up. They walked side by side to the edge of the little battlefield where Hinata and her friends had just fought.

She didn't pay as much attention to the actual conversation as she should have. She was more observed with registering the enemy's every movement. They hadn't shown any sign of attacks yet.

"Neji," she whispered under her breath. "We have to look out for the snakes underground. They're like chakra strings." He caught up quickly and nodded. "And look out for Genjutsu," she hurriedly added. He nodded again.

He put his arm around her shoulder, putting his palm against her neck, pressing chakra into her. She put her arm around his shoulder, too, and her palm against his neck. This way, none of them could get conquered by a genjutsu.

There didn't go long before Hinata was panting again. The new techniques she'd used had taken almost all of her chakra. She tried to stay observant and not think about the tire.

Then Karin, Suigetso and Jugo all jumped toward Naruto, who stood in the middle between the two teams.

"No!" Hinata screamed. Naruto was too far for any of them to reach him in time.

Suigetso cut his sword through the blonde, and every sound in Hinata's world disappeared.

Until the remains of Naruto turned into a cloud.

She gasped for her breath. It had been a clone.

The Byakugan had a hard time rejecting clones, but it was not impossible, and especially not when the Byakugan was watching the original. Neji must have known Naruto's trick.

But the Sharingan could see right through the clones. Why had Sasuke …

_He wants a fight so that they can leave sooner_, she realized.

And that would be what he got. Naruto had gone straight into the trap.

A dozen Narutos were suddenly attacking, and the others were moving again.

"They won't get far with Sasuke's genjutsu," Hinata whispered to Neji. "You have to let me go." She was only watching Neji with part of her eyes, but the majority of her concentration concerned Sasuke, who was fighting ten Naruto at a time. He easily put them out with his chidori.

"No!" Neji answered firmly.

"Then be my backup," she requested.

He thought about this, and then he nodded. He could see in her eyes that what she wanted to do was important.

He removed his arm from her shoulder, but he stayed so close that they were still almost touching. She took a deep breath and cleared her head before she began moving her legs as fast as she could. Neji was right behind her.

"Cover for me," she whispered to him, and he nodded seriously.

They ran to the nearest Naruto, and she shouted: "Naruto! Where is the real you?" There was no time to blush and to be self-conscious, yet a light pink colored her cheeks. She ignored that. This was important.

Naruto seemed just as embarrassed as her, and she saw him for a moment hesitate to give her the details – maybe because of her confession, maybe because of the enemy.

Then he pointed.

She didn't waste a second. She ran immediately, and there didn't go many seconds before she saw him.

"Hinata?" he asked confused.

"Naruto," she gasped, feeling dizzy. She was drained of strength, and it was sheer willpower that kept her standing. She felt Neji right behind her, ready to grab her if she should fall. "I know a way to make you stronger."

The idea had occurred to her when she looked at all of Naruto's clones and their chakra. She knew he had two chakras, and that this was the reason he had such a hard time molding.

"Huh?" Naruto asked, confused.

"I know a way to blend the Kyuubi's and your chakra with each other without the Kyuubi taking entirely over your body."

Both Neji and Naruto stared at her.

"Why haven't you said that before?" Naruto exclaimed.

"I just thought of it," she answered and blushed furiously. Now he was angry with her. As if things wasn't bad enough.

Naruto watched her for a minute – never meeting her eyes – and then nodded. "Okay. What do I have to do?"

"You just have to stand still," she answered.

He nodded and did as she asked. Then she stepped away from Neji and concentrated on Naruto's tenketsu.

She took in a deep breath.

And then she impossibly quickly touched her fingers to different places on his body. Naruto gasped and naturally shied away – having fought Neji, he probably thought he knew what was coming – but Neji grabbed him quickly and held him in place.

She pressed her chakra and made it flow in the right directions; arms, legs, heart, brain, eyes, ears, nose – anything important.

She was already gasping for her breath after thirty seconds, and that was when it started to work.

The chakra in Naruto began flowing quicker and swifter than before, and it wasn't as restrained as before.

Neji widened his eyes, but she continued as if nothing had happened.

The dizziness in her body made her fall to her knees, and Neji was instantly over her, but she pushed him away.

"I'm not finished," she whispered hoarsely.

She got up again and moved her hand toward Naruto's stomach with all her fingers pointing.

Naruto gasped fiercely when she hit him.

The red chakra began forming, and she knew she didn't have long to get it into order.

She began pointing the places on his body faster than before, ignoring the fainting that was coming. She felt was if she was going to throw up from exhaustion.

Naruto stared at her as if she was something alien to him, but that probably wasn't very surprising. She'd never been strong in front of him.

And then she stopped.

Two seconds passed, and then she collapsed.

Neji grabbed her.

"Hinata-sama!" he called, pressing his palm to her forehead.

"Water," she whispered.

Seconds that felt like hours passed, then water streamed into her mouth and down her throat.

She opened her eyes narrowly and saw Naruto and Neji stand over her.

"Go, Naruto," she whispered.

He hesitated, and she nodded to let him know that she meant it. He nodded back, and was just about to go, but then he added: "Thank you," and he was off.

"Hinata-sama," Neji said when Naruto was gone. "You didn't need to do that."

"I did."

"How did you –"

"I'll explain it to you later, cousin. There is much to be done."

Then his face turned angry.

"No," he said grimly. "I won't allow you to put yourself in danger again."

Her eyes turned fierce. "Neji! I will do my best to help my friends. I am always the one standing behind, I am always the one slowing the others down. This time it's my turn to turn the wind."

Their eyes stared at each other, and to someone not Hyuuga, it would look very scary.

It _was_ scary, looking into Neji's eyes like that.

But then he bowed his head with a sigh. "Do you promise me this will be the last thing?"

"Yes," she answered, sighing.

"What are we going to do?"

She smiled weakly. "Even with the Kyuubi, Naruto can't stand against Sasuke long with the kind of level genjutsu he has, and we can't constantly press chakra into him. As you know, there's needed very delicate chakra control." He nodded. "So we have to stop Sasuke from using genjutsu."

He stared at her as if she was crazy.

"What?! How are you planning to do that? And without killing yourself! We'd have to pull his eye out!"

"No," she answered. "We wouldn't have to do that."

He continued staring at her, and she sighed.

"It's a difficult matter, but if we block the chakra flow to his eyes, he cannot use his Sharingan."

Neji blinked a few times before he crossed his arms around her and shook his head. "Absolutely _no_! You'd have to stand right beside him! I cannot allow that! As you cousin _and_ comrade!"

"But if I don't, Naruto and the others may fail," she whimpered.

"May! There's a may!" he reminded her. "They'll win, you just wait and see." He looked at her with angry eyes. "And why can't I do it?"

"You will," she answered.

He frowned. "I don't understand."

"We don't have time to this, Neji! Sasuke could be making a genjutsu in this very moment," she reminded him.

He looked cautiously at her, and then he nodded. He helped her up and watched as she tried to find balance.

"Fine," she said. "Let's go."

-

Sasuke was easily fighting Naruto's clones and everyone who got near him. The chidori that covered his body made it almost impossible to get a hit on him. The only one making a fight against him was the real Naruto.

Jugo, Suigetso and Karin were making a good match against Hinata's friends, but she didn't have time – or strength – to worry now. She had a job to do.

"Are you ready?" Neji asked from behind, and she nodded.

Sasuke saw them coming, of course, even though he was already in a tough match with Naruto.

Neji went first, followed by Hinata.

Sasuke was already expending his chidori and reaching forward.

Her heart was pounding harder and harder.

Neji jumped. He turned in the air so he ended on the other side of Sasuke. Sasuke turned halfway, still holding his eyes on Hinata.

Neji attacked.

Hinata watched as Sasuke's chakra drew to Neji's side.

She moved her hand toward him.

"Hinata! Neji" she heard someone shout, but she didn't know who it was.

Then Sasuke hit Neji. Hinata saw Neji's chakra, already molded in the right place, protecting him from the attack.

_Now_!

He was jumping out of the way, but Neji had already reached behind him, kicking him back.

_This is my last chakra_, she thought.

Her index and middle finger moved. She placed them right at his nose brig, pushing all the remains of her chakra into him as quickly as she could.

Only one second later, Sasuke's hand hit her left side.

The shock made her lose it. Her finger fell. She hadn't been able to disconnect his Sharingan entirely. It was a half done job. Just as it always was.

She was falling.

"_Hinata_!"

Shouting everywhere.

Neji running. Sasuke turning, his hand ready. Neji attacking. Sasuke reaching out his arm to put down Neji also. Neji grabbing Sasuke's arm and shook with pain and numbness. His pupils turned upwards. Yet his right hand kept moving, index and middle finger ready. Her Byakugan saw. He placed them in the exact spots, and his chakra followed the canals hers had already made. He finished her job.

Neji sprang out of the way, his body still shaking.

Sasuke was on his way to finish her cousin off.

But then Naruto was in the way, a rasengan in his hand.

Everything turned dark, and she could only vaguely hear their fighting.

Someone was suddenly by her side.

"Hinata-sama."

"Neji," she whispered. She couldn't quite feel her throat, couldn't hear her heart. She was too warm and she was too cold. She was too numb to shake.

"I'm sorry … Neji. I couldn't … do it."

She felt his arms around her. "You did wonderful, cousin. Sasuke's sharingan is cut off, for now at least."

"But that … was you."

"No. It was you."

She was falling.

"Hinata-sama!" Neji called. "Sakura!"

"Neji," she whispered.

"Yes?" he asked, panic in his voice. She smiled.

"Did I … Turn … The wind?" she asked before slipping into darkness.

-

12.814 words! That's 21 pages! And most of it is just fighting! I guess you can feel how I'm slipping at the end, just like Hinata. You probably can't understand half of it. I tried to write it properly.

Please review.

Dawn


	3. Hinata's Wounds

Finally! I can get on to the original idea bunny that I've been working to get to! I'm sorry if the last chapter was a bit incoherent, but it was so long and I just wanted to get to this – the Naruhina part!!!!!!! ^^

I _am_ sorry for the bad second chapter, and that Naruto didn't use sage-mode and so on, but the chapter just wasn't about that. It was about Hinata and _her_ fight. That chapter was mostly just for getting Hinata hurt and showing Naruto and the others what she can do. Remember, this is an idea bunny, I write it only because my fingers and mind DEMAND me to. This is why I do not fill out holes like that.

I hope you can bear with me :)

-

Being the fifth, most of Tsunade's work took form of paperwork. She had had a hard time adjusting herself to this and stop being the flighty person she'd always been. There hadn't been much time for anything else but being the hokage, not even being a healer. Yet she had found time to tend to Sakura and her training. She had seen a true prodigy in the rose-haired girl. Training her had also been an adjustment from the daily routines.

Now Tsunade gladly took on the paperwork. The rebuilding of Konoha had begun and was well into process, and Danzou had been dealed with. There were still a lot of people needing help in the hospital, and Tsunade had lost her best healer to Naruto's search.

Yet, though this was a lot of work, it didn't occupy her mind enough. She was tired, but thoughts of Jirayia and Shizune kept running through her mind, and then Dan and Nawaki came to her again. It felt like she was losing everything, and she knew she could not bear losing Naruto and Sakura. Naruto had already lost her necklace, which made her worried; without it, Yamato could not help him.

Yet life went on, and with help from the Sunagakure they'd made sure Konoha was not attacked when vulnerable.

Paperwork had just begun returning again when Naruto's party came back.

A few of them was hurt, but none of them vital or deadly.

Except one.

Hyuga Hinata was in a critical state, and Sakura had done everything possible on the journey back to Konoha.

It seemed Tsunade was the last person who could save her.

-

It had been dark for a long time. She didn't know much, but she knew that.

In the darkness, only little mattered. She didn't feel much of the expected pain because she was so detached from her body.

But she did feel pain.

It was the writhing pain of not knowing.

Had Sasuke been defeated? Was anyone hurt? Was Naruto hurt? If so, physically or mentally?

She tried not to think too much.

Sometimes she even hoped for the real, physical pain. That could be able to take her mind off all those thoughts.

Strangely enough, the easiest thing to think of was where she was. She was pretty sure she was on her way back to Konoha, or maybe she was already there. Whatever had happened to her, they could help her.

So she and everyone else hoped.

-

"How's she holding up?"

Neji and Kiba jumped at the sound of someone else's voice. They hadn't moved or said anything in a long time; they'd simply sat on each' their side of Hinata's bed, watching over her.

They looked to the door where Shino and Shikamaru stood.

It was Shikamaru who had spoken.

"Sakura sais she's still unstable," Kiba answered. His voice was a bit grudgingly; Akamaru hadn't been allowed in.

"What about Hyuga?" Shikamaru asked, looking at Neji.

Neji shrugged. He was still angry that one and a half days had passed with only two other Hyugas than himself showing up. They were merely members from the side branches.

"They're minding their own business," he answered.

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow, but avoided to note that Hinata most certainly was their business.

"Tsunade wants to talk with all three of you," he continued, on turn pointing to Neji, Shino and Kiba.

"Why?" Neji asked, his eyes narrowing.

Shikamaru shrugged, looking seriously at Hinata. "About her, I guess. I don't know. But don't worry. I'll watch over her. And Sakura will be here soon."

A considerable amount of time passed by before Neji and Kiba got up and followed Shino out of the door, all three of them looking back at Hinata.

When they'd left, Shikamaru took Kiba's place besides Hinata; this way he could still watch the city properly.

He looked at it and shook his head at the destruction, and then he turned back to Hinata.

He'd been visiting her three times before with Ino and Choji, all three times bringing flowers with the two. She'd never moved from the spot. Her chest was raising quietly, all the tubes moving so slightly it was almost impossible to see.

Everyone was worried for her, and Neji, Kiba and Shino only left to permit others to visit – only three were allowed at once. Kurenai had been there once, though she'd spent almost the entire day sitting by her former student's side, praying for her.

Shikamaru hoped for Hinata. For Kurenai, for Konoha, for Neji, for the Hyuga, for Hinata herself. Though Hinata was a silent person, she had more importance than people realized.

"Where are the others?"

Shikamaru turned to look at Lee and TenTen.

"Tsunade needed to talk to them," Shikamaru answered. "You need to talk to Neji?"

TenTen sighed. "Lee thought it would help Hinata if we stood by her side and cheered her on."

"She inherits the true fire of Konoha!" Lee exclaimed, knotting his fists, his eyes almost in flames. "If we cheer her on, she'll make it! She's a true Konoha shinobi, and –"

TenTen smacked the back of his head. "She's in a coma, you idiot!" she reminded him. Then her face smoothened and she turned toward Hinata. "She's still unstabil?" she asked. Shikamaru nodded silently.

After a moment of silence, Shikamaru asked: "What about Naruto?" Since they got home, he hadn't been much away from Tsunade's side. Tsunade wanted his help to many things, and this was one of his very short breaks.

TenTen's face turned disapproving, and she crossed her arms. "A jerk – like always."

Lee shook his head. "Naruto's just confused," he said seriously. "He knows he'll have to talk with Hinata, but he doesn't know what to say – or when. I understand; Kiba and Neji are like guard dogs, waiting to snap his head off."

"They're like brothers to her," Shikamaru noted and shrugged. "It's to be expected."

"But Shino's like a brother to her, too, yet he doesn't act anything like that," TenTen said with a confused face.

"Shino thinks differently. He's angry with Naruto, too, of course, but he thinks it's up to Hinata," Shikamaru answered.

"Hey hey!" Sakura greeted them from behind, and they all turned. "Every time I walk into this place it's always crowded with people," she snorted, seeming cheerful. For a moment, Shikamaru felt hope, but her expression turned sad when she looked at Hinata.

"We'll leave," TenTen said and grabbed Lee.

Once they were gone Sakura continued to Hinata's bed. Shikamaru felt suddenly uncomfortable as Sakura began to check the Hyuga girl. He turned to the window and watched the clouds lazily, though he couldn't with as much comfort as he used to.

"Can I come in?"

Sakura and Shikamaru both froze at the sound of Naruto's voice in the room.

Shikamaru put a smile on and turned to look at Naruto. "Trying to avoid Kiba and Neji, are we?" he asked. Naruto cringed, but shook his head.

"They just gave me free," he said in a remorseful tone.

"Who are they?" Sakura asked with narrowed eyes.

Naruto shrugged. "Everybody, including Tsunade and Yamato. They wanted to know if any … accidents happened." Sakura winced, but then her firm face came back, remembering that nothing had actually happened.

"But I'm sure you haven't been _that_ preoccupied in the last two months as to not have time to visit Hinata once. You know she deserves that!" she reprimanded him. He knew he deserved it, but it still stung.

"I … I didn't know what to say," he mumbled. Sakura's face smoothened a bit.

Shikamaru shrugged uncomfortably. "Y'know what, I still have a lot of work to do," he told them and walked out of the door casually.

When the door closed behind Shikamaru, Sakura knotted her fist, and Naruto jumped away from her immediately.

"Sakura-chan," he said in that shaky voice of his, and she sighed.

"You've really caused some trouble, Naruto," she groaned angrily. "Have you any idea what you've been doing to Hinata?" She shook her head. "She's been all out of it. The only good thing that's come out of it, I've heard from Neji, is that her training have changed. She's become stronger since her … confession."

Naruto muttered something unintelligible.

"What?" Sakura demanded mercilessly. "Naruto," she sighed then. "There's no excuse for what you've done. You should have told her before."

"Told her what?" he asked.

"That you don't love her back, of course!" Sakura answered, staring him down. "You're downright cruel! All these years, she's loved you, and then she finally pull together enough courage to tell you, and all you do is throw her aside. At least tell her instead of let her guess. She did actually save your life! If she hadn't come along –"

"I know, I know, Sakura-chan," Naruto cut her off and stepped closer to Hinata. He was somewhat … happy to see her sleeping. She looked like she wasn't in pain. Her face was clean. He knew she was unstable and that it was his fault. He shook his head. Sakura was right. What he'd done was unforgivable. His hand twitched toward the bed; wanting to … He didn't know. Stroke her hair? Take her hand? Just try to comfort her and say that he was sorry somehow. "I … I guess I was … Scared," he whispered, deciding not to touch her at all.

Sakura stared at him. "Scared? Of _what_?" Sakura was clearly startled. She couldn't get into her head how Naruto could be afraid of Hinata. She couldn't understand how anybody could be afraid of that kind girl – but then again, Hinata could be strangely fierce toward those who wanted to hurt her friends.

_She's kinda like Naruto that way_, she thought.

"It's just … All my life … I've had to struggle and fight for people to even begin recognizing me. It took so long with you. I can't believe Hinata … _loved_ me … I didn't even do anything for it. It feels like I don't deserve it."

"You don't," Sakura snorted. "Baka. You've acted –"

"I know, Sakura, but _before_ that! What did I ever do for Hinata to make her feel that way?" Naruto demanded.

She thought about that for a moment and found the answer in her thoughts a moment ago. "Remember how she wanted to change herself?" Naruto nodded. "I think you did the difference. _You_ changed her – _you_ made her like herself more." He frowned at her, as if he doubted he even had such an ability.

_Sometimes Naruto doesn't see himself very clearly_, she thought to herself with a faint smile.

Naruto looked at Hinata again. "How's she doing?" he asked.

"She's alive," Sakura answered. "But Sasuke's chidori hit her hard. She was in a very difficult and vulnerable state when he hit her. Her chakra circulatory system was connected with his. She could have died on the spot because she was so exhausted. Tsunade said it was a miracle she even survived to Konoha."

"Is she going to make it?" Naruto's voice was angsty now.

Sakura looked seriously at him, and then she whispered: "I don't know. I hope so."

With those words, she left.

Naruto froze as he found himself alone with Hinata, even though she was unconscious. He felt though she could hear and see him anyway. Feel him, even.

He shuddered as his head swam. He felt shaky. Remembering all those times Hinata had fainted in front of him, he suddenly understood.

_It goes that far_? he asked himself, puzzled.

She didn't move as he watched her, and time passed by without him noticing terribly much. Birds chipped outside, and he watched Hinata's face. It didn't change once.

"What are _you_ doing here?"

It was a growl, which made the speaker Kiba.

Naruto's hands came up in reflex, and his eyes met with both Kiba's and Neji's. Shino's were hidden behind glasses, but Naruto wasn't afraid of him – not that Shino wasn't strong, he just didn't seem to be intending on killing him.

"Answer him." Neji said in a low, contained voice, which made it all the more scarier. "What are you doing here?" His voice was regular, and his stance wasn't offensive. But Naruto knew he could make some deathly move within a second.

"I'm –"

"Hell what, it doesn't matter!" Kiba barked, taking one step toward him. "Get out of here! You have no right to be here!" His words were almost shouts.

Naruto figured that it was probably a better idea to do as they said when Shino spoke up.

"Hinata wouldn't want us to act this way." His sunglasses, of course, didn't give anything away. Naruto wasn't even sure if he wanted to see his friend's face right now. Even though Shino acted differently from the others, there were no questioning his anger.

"But Shino –" Kiba growled.

"Besides," Shino cut him off, "this is what you've been complaining about – Naruto not showing up."

Neji and Kiba both turned their eyes on Naruto, who hated every second of this. He was beginning to mend whether he should have come, but he knew Hinata deserved better than that, so he stuck to his decision.

Kiba crossed his arms. "Fine. So why are you here, Naruto?" he asked.

"I just came to see if Hinata was all right," the blonde responded, trying not to get angry himself. They had a right to be angry, he didn't.

"Of course she's not all right, you moron!" Kiba exclaimed. "You freaking _broke_ her!"

"I –"

"Even if she was all right _physically_, you've totally destroyed her mentally!"

"Sakura said Hinata was training more and better because of it," Naruto muttered.

"Oh so that makes _everything_ okay?" Kiba shouted. His words were almost incoherent. Shino put an arm on his friends'. "Remember, Kiba, Hinata has a right. She wouldn't want us to stop Naruto from being here."

Kiba and Neji scowled. Then they both shot glares at Naruto, before they turned and left the room, obviously reluctant to stay with him.

Shino continued on to the stool on the side of Hinata's bed. For the more than hundredth time, Naruto cursed that Shino was impossible to read. His face would probably even be hard to read if he didn't have that hood and the glasses – his forehead never frowned like other's did, and his voice didn't change very often. Not even when he was sulking.

He went on to the other side of Hinata and rested against the wall, looking from Shino to Hinata, letting each of them get a minute before shifting.

Being Naruto, he had a hard time, especially when it came to Shino, determining whether the silence was awkward or not. He wasn't sure how long had passed until Sakura came back.

She nodded seriously to Shino and then went right on to checking Hinata.

Naruto didn't like watching Sakura lift and put down Hinata's unmoving limbs. It was like looking at a corpse.

"Is she any better?" Shino asked.

Sakura nodded stiffly. Naruto noticed that she was black under her eyes, and her forehead was frowned in drowsiness.

"She seems to be a little better than before," she said and rubbed her forehead.

"Sakura," Naruto murmured, and she looked questioningly at him. "You should get some sleep. Get someone else to check on Hinata." Her face smoothened as he looked at him in surprise. He understood. He wanted her to stay, to check on Hinata constantly. She was the best healer aside from Tsunade. He didn't want anyone else to help Hinata. But he couldn't put more friends into situations like the one Hinata was in.

She nodded. "Thank you, Naruto. I'll see you in the morning." Then she left, her back slumping as if the mere thought of sleep was enough to make her body relax. She would probably go right to the bed and collapse on it without making ready for the night.

"Naruto."

Naruto was surprised at the sound of Shino's voice, and he turned to look into the blackness of his sunglasses.

"What?" he asked.

"Why didn't you talk to Hinata after her confession?" Shino asked.

Naruto was utterly surprised that Shino would ask this. Shino didn't seem like the kind of guy who would ask this. Then again, Naruto honestly didn't know much about Shino.

He took in a deep breath. This would have to be done properly. At least Shino wasn't like Kiba – he didn't hit him and yell at him and accused him.

"I … I didn't know how to confront her. How to talk to her. In the end, I've never gotten to know Hinata much. She always passes out." He frowned. Why was he so stupid that he hadn't realized the truth sooner?

"You could have contacted me or Kiba," Shino suggested.

"Shino, I … I honestly didn't think it much through. I … Believe me, Shino, I'm so sorry," Naruto stuttered, shaking his head. "I know I should have handled it differently."

Shino nodded. His arms were crossed, and he almost looked more serious than usually.

Naruto sighed. "I'm gonna make it up to her," he promised. "As soon as she wakes up."

The Aburame got to his feet and nodded. "I trust you on that, Naruto. You tend to keep your promises."

He began walking to the door.

"Wait!" Naruto exclaimed, immediately in a stressed stance. The thought of being alone with Hinata again had him unnerved in seconds. "Where are you going?"

"Kiba," Shino answered. "I trust that you will not leave this room, at least until someone else comes along. Don't worry. I'll make sure Kiba and Neji don't kill you."

As he walked out, Naruto wondered whether he heard amusement in Shino's voice or not.

-

Naruto stayed the night and slept a bit in the chair, Shino had been sitting in. He couldn't get himself to relax enough, though, so he was awake most of the time. Then he watched Hinata.

He hadn't realized before, but she had a beautiful face. Well, of course he'd known she was beautiful, but he hadn't noticed that she was _this_ beautiful. With the lights from the stars and the city from the window lighting up her face, she looked stunning.

He'd always thought of Hinata as a very quiet girl, but he was thinking that maybe it was time to reminisce that observation. He'd seen her in battle, and she was always persistent and willful. Every time he saw her, she was stronger than the last time.

He remembered when he was on his way to the arena during the chunin exams, ready to fight Neji. She'd been hiding, blushing when he saw her. She told him he'd make her like herself more. That he'd inspired her.

He was glad that he had somehow helped her, even if it couldn't make up for what he'd done.

"I'm sorry, Hinata," he murmured drowsily. His head was nodding back and forth like a doll's.

"Naruto! Have you been here all night?"

He turned around to look shortly at Sakura, before he fell to the floor from the spin.

"Naruto!" she shouted, trying to grab him in time, but unsucceeded.

She placed him on the other bed in the room so that he could sleep it out.

She checked Hinata and smiled.

-

When Naruto woke up, he found a sheet of paper on his pillow, and he pulled it to his hand a bit gruffly to see what was written.

His bad mood changed immediately.

The message was written in Sakura's handwriting:

_Hinata is better._

His heart was singing, and he felt as if the world would turn in to a happy-ending musical that everyone would puke over because of its pink aura.

He got to his feet and made few dance-like jumps.

"Hinata!" he addressed her, having forgotten that she couldn't hear him. "You're okay, you're okay! Thank goodness, you're okay!"

Then he froze. He was leaning in over Hinata's bed, his face not many inches from hers. That was when he realized that Sakura's note had said nothing about _stabilized_.

He sighed heavily and felt his eyes sting. Resting his forehead lightly to hers, he took in deep breaths to steady himself. Why was this happening to Hinata? She was probably the person in the world who deserved it the littlest. He remembered Neji telling her she couldn't be ninja because she was _too nice_.

Unthinkingly, he pulled back and put his hand where his head had just rested. Part of him had expected her to be warm, but she was unthinkably cold.

He looked at her with eyes that showed an aching heart deep down in him. "Hinata," he murmured, with all that feeling welling up in him. She couldn't … die, could she? It was as if it was the first time he thought about it. No, not the first time, the first time he thought about the consequences.

Hinata would be _gone_.

"Don't go, Hinata. Don't go," he whispered, taking her hand with his own free one. "Please, Hinata." He blinked away the tears as fast as he could, but one slipped and hit her eyelid.

-

It was still dark, but she had vague observations of what was happening. There were voices, but she wasn't exactly sure who it was. It was all a big blur inside of her, and even though she tried her hardest to make sense out of what she heard, it was impossible. She was in a numb condition that was inescapable.

But then she heard the voice that she loved the most in the whole world. She was sure her heart was going frantic, that she was blushing. But she felt no heartbeat, no heat in her cheeks. She couldn't feel her body. Even if she tried to come closer to him, tried with every fiber of her mind and will, she couldn't reach him. They were separated on so many levels, she felt a wave of devastation wash over her and bury her under a thick layer of it.

_Naruto-kun_, she cried, hoping he would somehow save her.

"Hinata!" Her prayer had been heard! He was calling to her. He was calling her name!

"You're okay, you're okay. Thank goodness, you're okay!" It sounded like he was singing, and she wanted to giggle at the ridicule bliss in his voice.

But then the atmosphere changed, yet again.

"Hinata."

His voice was sad, and she couldn't bear that. She'd wanted to hold him so many times, wanted him to hold her, wanted to hug him, maybe even brush her lips against his …

But never before had the urge been so scathing. She couldn't reach him, and she couldn't help him. But he was hurting, and he wasn't supposed to. Naruto shouldn't be sad. That was wrong. So out of this world.

Only she felt like she was in a different world now.

"Don't go, Hinata. Don't go." His pleading was heartbreaking, because she didn't know how to do as he asked. She didn't know how to go, yet she also didn't know how to _not_. It seemed though she was moving without making the effort. Moving _away_.

"Please, Hinata."

She wanted to cry, she wanted to shout, she wanted to tell him he shouldn't shed the tears she could hear he was shedding. Or fighting not to.

_Naruto-kun! Hear me! Hear me! Don't cry, Naruto-kun_! She wanted to tell him.

But not a single sound came over her lips.

-

Hyuga Hiashi was known for being a strict, yet fair, leader of the Hyuga Clan. What he was not so known of was as an even more strict father. But those who knew, knew it much too well.

The Byakugans looking through the room, back at Tsunade, was piercing and cold, just as they were supposed to be. The fifth Hokage fought back a shiver, and said: "I wish to give you the report on your daughter's recovering."

Hiashi's face didn't change.

"You called me all the way here just for that?" he asked, obviously annoyed.

Tsunade ignored that.

"She's a bit better, but her state is still critical. Her chakra circulatory system is still a mess, and we've tried everything that we can do."

Hiashi's brows changed the slightest, and that little change made him look angry. "You mean you can't take care of her?"

"We can't do much. There's still a good enough chance that she'll survive, but we want to do everything we possibly can. That's why I wanted to ask you to lend me a Byakugan user to help us." Tsunade folded her hands in front of her and looked seriously at the man.

Hiashi raised an eyebrow, simply looking annoyed now.

"You can," he stated simply.

"Thank you." Tsunade bowed her head.

"Now, if there is nothing more –"

"Actually, there is," Tsunade noted.

"What?" Hiashi demanded.

"Hinata have been in hospital for three and a half days now, and you still haven't visited."  
The Hyuga Clan Head looked as if a child was wasting his time with worthless babbling.

"I've trusted she is in good hands," he answered.

"But a father –"

"I am the leader of the Hyuga Clan. I've got other things to tend to than my useless daughter."

Tsunade was stunned at these words. She knew that the Hyuga clan was strict, and she knew from Kiba and Shino – and even Sakura – that Hinata was having a rough time, but this was far out of her expectations of what this man was capable of.

"I-I'm afraid I don't understand."

"The Uchiha got away, didn't he? And she got hurt. We didn't get even one of them. It's a failure, then," Hiashi explained plainly.

"But Hinata worked harder than anyone else," Tsunade informed him.

"That is to be expected from a Hyuga, but victory is also expected, and she did not complete the last goal." Hiashi's face showed no affection, no sign that he cared at all for the subject.

"But I know from Kiba and Shino – from _Neji_ – that she showed incredible skills," Tsunade exclaimed, getting a bit obsessed now.

Hiashi raised an eyebrow. "Really? He hasn't told me."

She didn't have a hard time guessing who _he_ was.

"Apparently Hinata have found a whole new way of fighting. She have abilities far beyond other Shinobi, if only she could get the support to explore the talent she's got. She is constantly held back by the Hyuga Clan, not helped forward." Tsunade knew she had said too much. She was not supposed to put her nose in the business of the clans, but she had a temper that was easily triggered.

But Hiashi didn't get angry, as she had expected. Instead, he said:

"I see. And what abilities is this?"

She was put out for a moment by that, but then she answered quickly: "She's got chakra control far better than the majority of the Konoha Shinobi – even than most Hyuga members. She's got the mind to think differently, and the determination to get things done, and to push herself to the limit. You should mold her so that her talent can become some of the finest – as it is to be expected from the heiress of the Hyuga."

Hiashi took in her words, and for a moment he just looked at her with blank, Byakugan eyes, then he nodded, and turned.

He was out before she could say another word.

-

It was the first time Naruto had left Hinata's room since he first came. He was getting some coffee to help him through the endless hours. He wasn't usually much for the black moisture, but he needed it now.

That was when he saw something he had not expected; Hyuga Hiashi. Hinata's father.

He instantly thought of possibilities to escape the inevitable. Hiashi had finally come to punish him for what he had done.

His fears grew larger as he noticed Neji behind him. Both of their eyes were hard, just as the Byakugan was supposed to be.

He knew of only one reason they could be here, so he decided to take his time on that coffee.

-

Tsunade's special healer student was in Hinata's room as they approached. Hiashi called himself to her attention, and as soon as she saw him, she bowed quickly, and said: "Hiashi-sama. We expected you sooner."

Hiashi didn't respond, and she hurried to get out of his way as he walked to Hinata's side.

"How is she?" he asked.

"She's doing better. She's a real fighter," Sakura answered, and there were devotion to read in her voice. "Most people would have died from that."

When Hiashi didn't respond in any way, Sakura glanced questioningly at Neji, but – almost to be expected – he just shrugged.

Hiashi watched his daughter for a few minutes. The other two were completely silent, though Sakura was the only one feeling uncomfortable. Neji was used to Hiashi too much for those feelings.

Then Hiashi nodded. "I trust that you will get her back with us soon, and that you tell me immediately when you do."

"Of course," Sakura hurriedly assured, afraid to take too long to response to this frightening man.

"Good," Hiashi responded, then he turned and left the room. Neji followed directly.

Sakura shuddered and returned to Hinata's bed. She patted the sleeping girl's forehead. "I understand if you want to sleep long, Hinata. I really do."

-

"Are they gone?"

Sakura turned to look at Naruto.

"Yea," she answered.

"So they're not coming back?"

"I don't think so. Not until she wakes up. Well, Neji will probably come at some point, but not Hiashi," Sakura answered.

Naruto nodded and got into the room. "Is she feeling better?"

"A little," Sakura answered. "I'm hopeful, and so is Tsunade-sama."

"Great!" Naruto beamed, sitting down beside Hinata and touching her hand with his own. Sakura made a little jump at this sight, but he didn't notice; he was already watching Hinata's unmoving face.

"I'll … I'll leave you alone," Sakura said then and did as she promised.

Naruto barely heard her.

He felt that he owed it to Hinata to stay by her side, at least till she woke up, but something inside him was now demanding that he stay, not because of the guilt, but just to stay by her side. He was reminiscing all the memories he had of Hinata, and he was sad that there weren't many. He tried to figure out what she had been thinking in different situations, but he was always unsuccessful – he knew this was probably because he wasn't the most brainy of persons.

Watching Hinata sleep was both disturbing and relaxing. Disturbing because it wasn't natural for her to lay here in the hospital, and relaxing because of her flawless face and her steady breathing.

Days passed, and Naruto only very rarely left the room, and only for a few minutes, max. Neji and Kiba used that time to visit her, but Shino came whenever he felt like, and so did the others.

Once Naruto left her for a whole hour, and he felt anxious that she might wake up and think he didn't care. Think that he had just abandoned her – again – and then she would be sad. And he would hurt her yet again.

But he felt that he had another responsibility, for the others had been giving her so many flowers that her room was smelling like it, but he hadn't. He hadn't brought her anything.

That was why he was going to Ino's.

He was hurrying her along as he chose the flowers with as much care as he could on as little time as possible, and she send him more than one scathing glare.

"Thank you, Ino!" he shouted back at her as he ran through Konoha to the hospital with the flowers he wanted to deliver.

He put his flowers in a vase on the table next to her and put a little note that said _from Naruto_.

He'd asked from Hinata to be the one to give her her dinner, and she'd let him. He did everything that he possibly could for her. He turned her cover every half hour, and he straightened out her pillow when he thought it needed to – which was about every ten minutes – and he turned her from one side to another so that her body wouldn't ache from lying still all the time. If he thought her forehead was the least bit warm, he got some water and cooled it. If he thought she was too cold, he brought more covers to warm her and tugged them nicely around her.

It brought a deep happiness to be able to do these things for her. He hoped that she knew, wherever she was, that there was someone thinking of her like he did.

He hoped that he could help her come back by thinking about her, too. Every other minute he would look at her face and imagine her opening her big, white Byakugan eyes. They would be tired and groggy at first, then maybe confused. She would look around the room, and she would see him. A furious red would spread across her cheeks, and he would grin at her, finally knowing what it meant. She'd say "Naruto-kun", but before she could say anything else, he would apologize and tell her how sincerely sorry he was for what he had done to her. She would blush deeper and look away, with a faint smile.

As time passed, those imaginations turned to her hugging him, thanking him for his apology. Then she would tell him that it was okay and that she didn't hate him.

In another version, she would say that she still loved him.

In the next version, he'd tell her that she meant more to him than she could imagine.

And in a later version of the imagination, he told her that he loved her, too, in the very beginning of the scene. They'd embrace and he'd breathe in her scent as if it was a drug he needed to live.

He didn't realize what he was thinking before the dream was at an end.

He widened his eyes and stared at Hinata's innocent face. She was still asleep. In coma.

How had his feelings changed so much in such a short time? Or had that short time just helped him realize that he'd always loved her? Had he started loving her when she confessed about her own feelings? Or did it go further back than that?

He soon accepted that he was even stupid enough not to know his own feelings. He started cursing himself for having hurt Hinata by not knowing himself, and then he started cursing anyone who had ever hurt her – very much including Uchiha Sasuke.

Then he thought about laying an arm around her shoulders and hug her to his chest. There didn't go many hours after that before he hesitantly put his arm around her. He stroked her hair back and pondered upon the beauty of her.

That was when he thought about lightly pressing his lips to her forehead. Her skin would be smooth against his, and maybe it would help her … Maybe she would wake up.

It didn't take him long before that dream, too, was a reality.

Her scent was more delicate than he had imagined, which he hadn't thought possible. He had to pull away quickly for his head not to swim too much.

When the image of him kissing her unmoving lips came up, he jumped away and took in deep breaths, knowing that would be far over the line.

When Sakura and Ino for the third time came to give her a bath, he once again thought about his feelings. When – if – Hinata woke up, would she still feel the same? If she did, what would she say when she found out he felt the same way? What would Kiba, Shino and Neji say? If he found out about it, what would _Hiashi_ say? What about Sakura? And everyone else?

He shook his head. These feelings were so complicated.

On the tenth day of Hinata's coma, Sakura announced that she was feeling much better, and that she was stabile now.

Naruto's heart sang so loudly, it came out of his lips in form of an uncontrollable giggle. He grabbed Sakura's hands and danced around with her, and then he went to Hinata's side, whispering to her: "Did you hear that, Hinata? You're okay?"

As Sakura watched the look in his eyes and heard his words, she realized what had happened.

_Naruto_ … she thought. _You've changed_. She smiled a sad smile. Naruto was always changing.

It was a cold night when the first sign of Hinata's awakening showed.

Naruto knew it was going to be a cold night, and he'd given all his covers to Hinata. He was sitting in his chair, resting his head against her bed, his teeth chattering so loudly he could barely hear himself think.

That was why he didn't notice the other sound in the room: another set of chattering teeth.

When he finally realized it, he sat straight up instantly, grabbing to his right for Hinata.

"Hinata," he murmured, but there came no other response but the chattering.

He had nothing more to give her; no more covers. He didn't dare go look for others in the dark.

So he did the next best thing; he crawled up beside her and put his arms around her.

A few minutes later, her tightened body relaxed, and the chattering stopped.

He smiled. He'd gotten to do another thing for her.

-

It was early morning when he awoke. He wasn't in a very comfortable position – he'd been laying the same way all night. He pulled himself a bit up without removing his arms completely and stretched himself.

He moaned and yawned at the same time. He hadn't slept properly in too many days, and he had been excused from duty in a very long time.

He heard a breath that sounded much like a squeal, and he turned so fast he felt his head spin. He studied the face that lay next to him. It was quiet, as always, smooth, as always. But there was something different …

The lips were trembling just the slightest, if he looked very closely, and he brows were pulled upward.

"Hinata," he called. "Hinata, are you awake?"

Her lips tightened the tiniest bit.

"Hinata!" he exclaimed and grabbed her shoulders. "Hinata!" He was desperate for her to wake up so he could make sure she was okay, so that he could tell her that he was sorry, so that … Well, he didn't know. So that a miracle could work wonders.

"Hinata, it's me, Naruto! Are you okay? Please, Hinata! Please wake up."

He was just about to get up to go get Sakura when he saw her open her eyes the slightest.

Even though her white eyes were narrowed, he could see them, and he was overwhelmed by a warm feeling that spread through his entire body.

"Hinata," he said with all of that feeling in his words. "You're okay." The words came out in a choke; it was such a relief to finally be able to say them.

"Naruto … kun?" she whispered.

Instincts pulled his body into action, and he put his arms around her and hugged her tightly. She gasped and froze in his arms, but he was too happy to notice.

When he pulled back he saw that familiar blush on her cheeks, and he laughed.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

Her lips moved without a sound coming, and his brows furrowed. Was she not okay, then? Had something gone wrong?

"Confused," she finally gasped out, and realization hit him. Of course, she didn't know what had happened the last many days. He could hear Sakura's words: "Baka!"

"Sasuke's chidori hit you really bad, and you came back to Konoha. You've been in coma for ten days now," he explained. She still seemed as confused as before. "Do you want me to get Sakura?" he asked, concerned again.

"N-no, it's o-okay," she stuttered, flustered over his concern. A deep blush danced over her cheeks.

Naruto frowned. So the stuttering was back.

"Ano … Naruto-kun?"

"Yea?" he asked.

"Wh-what are you doing here?" She seemed like the question was really bothering her.

That was when Naruto realized he had yet to tell her the change of his emotions and how sorry he was for ever, ever hurting her.

"Hinata …" he murmured, and his cheeks warmed up to a degree that was impossible to count. "I'm … I'm sorry."

She widened her eyes and then blinked several times. "Ano … What?"

"I acted like a jerk. I'm so sorry. And I'm even more sorry for being the reason that you got this hurt."

His arms were still around her, and they were close enough that he could feel her breath, but it didn't seem to mean anything for the situation. Hinata was probably too preoccupied with his words, and to him, it was starting to feel too natural for him to be uncomfortable. A sudden fear that he wouldn't get to hold her again, like this, shot through him.

"Naruto-kun," she breathed, and another light blush warmed her face. "I don't understand. You didn't … You didn't cause this."

He could hear her edit her own words, and he narrowed his eyes as he calculated the real meaning. She had edited herself in saying "you didn't hurt me". So she admitted it …

"Hinata, don't make up lies. We both know what a moron I've been, and I'm gonna make that up to you in every possible way I can think of!" Then Sakura's voice echoed in his head, as if she was standing right behind him: "Hinata needs sleep, baka!"

He grinned. Maybe he was a bit smarter than he used to be. "But right now you still need to rest."

"Actually, N-Naruto-k-kun, I'd like to move around a little bit." Her eyes took in the parts of the room that Naruto didn't cover. "Just around the room."

He thought about it for a moment, but then he remembered that she had been sleeping for ten days.

He pulled back from her – with much restraint – and let her stretch her arms, her legs and her neck, before she tried to step out on the floor. She moved hesitantly, as if she feared she might fall any moment.

She began to walk around the bed shakily, but after a few steps, it seemed as though she was okay. Naruto grinned widely, happy that she was back.

"Kiba and Shino will be so thrilled!" he decleared clapping his hands together. "And Sakura-chan and Tsunade have been so worried. Not to mention _Neji_! But everyone's amazed that you even survived!" His eyes turned warm, and she looked away. She tried to hide herself behind the bed. "Sasuke really got to you." Then his face turned into a frown.

"What is it, Naruto-kun?" she whispered. He noted that she still looked confused.

"I should go get Sakura-chan," he responded. "But are you going to be okay?"

She froze. She stared at him with her white eyes. As he stared back, he noticed that they were not all white – there was a bit violet in them, too.

"You mean … You'd leave?" she asked. She seemed torn somehow.

"Yea," he answered, before he hurriedly added: "But I can stay! If you want me to …" He felt his cheeks turn slightly warm at the prayer in his voice.

"I … I … I'm still tired. I want to lie down," she whispered. She found her way to the bed, and she laid herself shakily down. She sighed.

"I'll get Sakura-chan," Naruto murmured, but she gasped:

"Ano, Naruto-kun. Co – Cou …"

"Yes?" he asked, looking as her entire face turned red.

"Never mind," she whispered, and he nodded.

He ran through the entire hospital and asked several nurses for help, before he found Sakura, and told her what had happened. They both hurried along back to where Hinata was placed.

Hinata was half asleep when they arrived, so Naruto didn't notice much of what Sakura did: he took the opportunity to just stare at Hinata.

Sakura tried to get in contact with the young Hyuga, but she only mumbled small responses.

"Do you feel pain?" Sakura asked at one point, and Naruto's brain was suddenly in a very bright spot.

"Mmh? A little," Hinata murmured.

"I'm going to give you a little for it. You'll feel a little groggy, but you can sleep if you want to, so it won't be a problem."

"O-kay," Hinata breathed and closed her eyes entirely.

Sakura turned to Naruto and smiled. "It's good you hurried to get me. I'm told to let the Hyuga clan know when she's better, so I'd better be off."

"I'd better leave soon, too, if Hiashi is gonna come here again," Naruto said. He shuddered.

She grinned. "Good idea. I'll see you later, then."

"Yea," he answered.

After Sakura had left, Naruto sat down beside Hinata in the chair, afraid to put his arms around her again.

"Naruto-kun," Hinata yawned, and he turned his face. She looked so cute, and his face lit up like a sun.

"Yes, Hinata?" he asked kindly.

"What do you mean … Hiashi?" she murmured.

"Oh …" His mind went blank for a few seconds, before he gathered his thoughts and found coherent words to use. "He was here to check on you."

"Really?" She sounded as if she didn't believe him.

"Yea." His eyes turned dark. "Seriously, Hinata, you can't believe your own dad would visit you in the hospital when you're this badly wounded?"

She tried to shrug, but she only succeeded halfway. "The Hyuga clan," she said was a response.

"Yeah," Naruto mumbled. "Neji already told me about it."

"I know."

Her breathing was slow and even. She was well on her way to falling asleep. She didn't stutter anymore. She must be too far way now to feel that self-conscious.

"Naruto?"

"Hmm?"

"Why are you here?"

"Because I'm responsible for you."

"Is that all?"

He heard the hope in her voice, and he felt part of him being shaken to its core. He was lucky that he had the same feelings as her. Turning her down would be killing her.

Hesitantly, he reached out for her hand.

"You're beautiful, Hinata," he murmured. He got up and put his arms around her.

She opened her eyes and looked at him with sudden wonder.

"Naruto-kun?" she mouthed; it wasn't even a whisper.

"Yea, I love you, too." He knew she hadn't said anything, but he could read it all there in her eyes.

He grinned at her. It had been easier to say than he'd expected.

He pressed his lips to her forehead, and she gasped. He heard her breathing speed up, and a smile spread over his face.

"Nar-Narut-Naruto-k-kun," she stuttered, and he laughed loudly.

"It's just Naruto, Hinata. That's what everyone else calls me." He looked into her brilliant eyes, and he saw her try to smile, but it was clear that she was out of it. "You should relax now, Hinata. Kiba and Shino will want to see you, Kurenai, too, and all the others. And then there's Hiashi and Neji. You're in for a whole bunch."

She sighed, and he laughed again. He felt strangely high. "I know what you're saying," he grinned.

"Will you be here … when I wake up … Naruto?" she asked, as if the question bothered her.

He looked seriously at her. "I'll try to be here when you wake up, but Kiba and Shino will probably get me out of here. I've pretty much been living here, and Kiba won't be here when I'm here. Same for Neji." She blushed, but there was a glint of anger in her eyes that amazed him. "But if you're asking rhetorically," he continued, proud that he was using such a word, "I will be here as long as you'll let me."

They stared at each other for a whole minute, and then she softly rested her head on his chest. "Thank you, Naruto-kun. Ano." He grinned. "But I hope you know … You'll stay … A very long time."

"I hope so," he responded.

"A lifetime," she squeaked, and he could hear the hope.

"Longer than that," he whispered in her ear, and a jolt ran through her body like a lightning.

"Thank you."

She soon fell asleep, and he put his hand on her head. For a few minutes they lay like that. Then he got up, kissed her forehead and went to the door. There, he turned and looked at her a little while. He hoped he would soon get to see her again. Anything else would be unbearable.

He smiled at the sleeping girl that he loved.

"I'm the one saying thank you, Hinata," he told her, before he closed the door and wandered down the hallway.

-

I meant to also have a scene with Neji and Kiba and Shino and Hiashi, but I ended on just this. I liked it, though. Do you? Please review!

And I think this was pretty IC ^^

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